Transcended
by The Blessed Writer
Summary: In a world where Pokemon battling is a global phenomenon, five trainers get signed to the Sinnoh League. When new evils arise, these trainers must transcend in order to save the world. AU.
1. Chapter 1 - The Beginning

**Before you guys get into this story, I need to make a few things clear. One thing is that, while it may not be a M-rated story, it takes place in a more realistic AU of the Pokemon world that combines the games, anime, and manga together. Also, while this story may be focused on the OCs, a lot of the supporting characters are already established characters in the Pokemon world, such as Cynthia, Ash, and Paul. Another thing I want to make clear is that this story follows five experienced trainers, not five rookies, just starting out on their journies. I decided to take a different approach at the whole OT story genre and make them experience because I thought it would be more interesting from a reader's perspective. One more thing I need to make clear is that their journies aren't the overall focus of this story. The overall focus is the main plot between the protagonists and antagonists. That may be a little vague, but I'm sure the plot will come through sooner rather than later. Anyway, let's get right into this.**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 1 - The Beginning  
_**

 _Pokemon League Facility, Sinnoh_

 _September 2nd, 2032_

"So you all know why you're gathered here today, right?" a women asked from the head of a wooden, regal table. The blonde wore all black clothes and a black coat as well, with her hair running well past her back.

Eleven other people, all different ages and genders, were seated at the table. The room itself was relatively small and closed off. The only other notable items in the room was a picture of the speaker, who was a lot younger, with a massive Garchomp. The other picture was another older picture with the blonde speaker and four other people, all of whom were present in the room.

"Yes Cynthia, we are all here to discuss our contracts, right?" a girl asked from the other side of the table. She wore a light blue dress that complimented her light brown hair and dark blue eyes.

"You are correct, Ms. Brooke Winters," Cynthia responded, with a smile. "As Champion, it is my duty to deal with these kinds of affairs, along with Mr. Shawn Goodshow" - she motioned over to a brown-haired, taller man, who was wearing a black suit - "and the Elite Four." Once more, she pointed to four people all sitting around her. "Volkner, Flint, Lucas, and Terrell."

Volkner was a grayish-blond haired male with a blue suit. He had electric blue eyes and sat with his hands held together on the table. He had an unreadable look in his eyes. Flint was a male with red hair that was in an afro of sorts. He wore an exotic yellow suit and had a set of gray eyes. Flint had an ear-to-ear smirk on his face that made him come off as incredibly cocky. Sitting to the right of Cynthia was a pale male, Lucas, who appeared a lot younger than the other Elite Four Members. He had a dark blue suit on with gray hair and eyes. He looked at Brooke and four other people across the table intently. The last member was Terrell, who wore a light brown suit. He had dark brown hair and light brown eyes and he was tapping his fingers almost restlessly on the table.

"These are the people we're giving contracts to?" Volkner asked with a bored tone of voice. "They seem better fit for Ka-"

"Volkner," a stern, raspy voice interrupted with a dissatisfied tone. "You know better than to say something like that."

The voice belonged to an old man with gray hair that was spiked up. He also had thick gray sideburns and an equally as thick mustache. He wore a dark brown coat that was opened, revealing a dark blue shirt. He eyed Volkner with a disappointed look.

"What did I say wrong Professor? I didn't insult their skills or anything," Volkner attempted to reason with a monotone voice, but it was to no avail.

The professor paid no mind to what Volkner said and cleared his throat to continue.

"Please, take no offense to what Volkner said." He glanced at him quickly before turning to Brooke and four others. "He has a good heart, but that isn't what we're here for."

"Professor Rowan, can we just begin?" a male asked restlessly.

The speaker was a dark brown-haired teenager with a black suit on. He had a gold watch that seemed fairly expensive on his right wrist. The male was practically on the edge on his seat the entire time.

"Lenny, you've never changed. Always the impatient one," Professor Rowan said with a laugh that he and Lenny shared.

Lucas on the other side of the table had a slight chuckle, but it went unnoticed.

 _We all know someone like that,_ he thought to himself.

As Lucas was thinking to himself, Cynthia spoke up once more, causing the room to get quiet.

"Anyway," Cynthia started, grabbing everyone's attention, "Mr. Goodshow, Professor Rowan, the Elite Four, and I have decided on all of your contact's information weeks before you all got here. Everything in the contract is based off of your previous league performance, which were all tremendous for all rookie trainers, I might add."

Brooke, Lenny, and the others each looked at one another and nodded their heads in a pleased manner. They finally were all getting somewhere. However, one particular person didn't share the same expression.

"Cynthia," he spoke up. The speaker was a male with a plain tuxedo that matched his black hair fairly well. "I appreciate the praise, and so does everyone else I would assume, but we all have a lot of work to do, especially me."

"I agree with you, Michael Owens, but self-deprecation isn't something I agree with," she said with a chastising tone. "Right now isn't the time to be critical on yourself; you have an entire season to correct your mistakes you made in the Kalos League."

Michael simply nodded his head and went quiet. Meanwhile, Cynthia cleared her throat and continued on.

"Hopefully, we have no more interruptions," Cynthia started with a laugh that most people in the room shared. "I'm assuming you five want to get to business right?"

All five trainers agreed and Cynthia smiled and gave them a nod. She looked at Mr. Goodshow and spoke.

"Shawn, if you will, hand out their contracts please?"

Mr. Goodshow didn't say anything in response and got up from his seat. He had five brown, expensive folders in his hands and started to hand them out accordingly.

"Brett Rodriguez," he said to himself and walked over to a blonde-haired teenager. Brett wore a blue suit-a little darker than Volkner's, but not bright-and had green eyes. He had a confident look on his face as Mr. Goodshow gave him the contract. "Here you go, Mr. Rodriguez."

"Thank you sir," Brett said with a nod.

Immediately, he started looking through the contract details. As he was reading through, Brett looked incredibly pleased, with a slight smile on his face.

 _Twenty million Pokedollars?_ Brett thought to himself, surprised. _I guess Sinnoh really takes battling seriously, holy shit._

As Brett was going through the contract, Mr. Goodshow arrived at the final trainer. She was a light brown-haired girl with light green eyes. She wore a red, spaghetti-strapped dress and had a silver, sparkling necklace. As Mr. Goodshow held out the last contract, she gave him a shy smile.

"And lastly, Olivia King, if I'm not mistaken," he said, smiling at her. "Here you go, Ms. King; you'll have a bright future in the Sinnoh region."

"Thank you, Mr. Goodshow."

He gave her the contract with a nod and wished her good luck for the upcoming season. She didn't bother responding and dove straight into the contract. Upon reading some of the details, she seemed surprised.

Mr. Goodshow sat back down in his seat and patiently waited for Cynthia to speak up. After all, she was in charge of this meeting and invited both him and Professor Rowan to come. Cynthia, however, planned on giving them ten minutes to look through their contracts as this was the first time they were doing this. They were all fairly professional, though, she had to admit, unlike herself on her first time.

 _They all have bright futures,_ she thought to herself, scanning each individual trainers.

As Cynthia was thinking to herself, Lucas got her attention.

"Ms. Shiro?" he asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Lucas, I've told you to call me Cynthia many times," she said with a laugh. "Anyway, what's up?"

"Oh," he started, "I was just going to ask who do you think has the most potential in the Sinnoh League?"

Lucas thought that was a fairly reasonable question. Plus, he was curious about it and why not ask the best trainer in Sinnoh who she thinks. Cynthia took a moment before answering Lucas' question and analyzed each trainer, all of whom were quietly looking through the contracts. She couldn't help but notice that Brett looked much more pleased than the others.

"Honestly, I don't know yet. It's just way too early to tell, and they all have a lot potential in any league," she said, turning to Lucas. "I can say that Ms. King's battling style reminds most of yours, though, if that means anything."

Lucas looked at Olivia and nodded.

"I can see that," he agreed. "I remember watching her videos and the way she battles, especially with her Swampert, reminds me too much of how I battle with Torterra."

"I wouldn't be surprised if she was inspired, I'm not going to lie," she said, with a shrug. "You're style isn't too common."

"Maybe so," Lucas said. "To be fair, I wouldn't be surprised if Brett was inspired by you a little bit." He glanced over at the blond, who had closed his contract, satisfied. "You may not be extremely hyper-offensive, but the way he battles with his Garchomp is almost identical."

"If it's not broke, then don't fix it," Cynthia said with a laugh. She glanced at Brett, who caught her gaze, and gave him a respectful nod. He returned the nod and mouthed a "thank you," which drew a laugh out of Cynthia as she waved him off. "He seems funny too."

"You find everyone funny, Cynthia." Lucas rolled his eyes and Cynthia shrugged once more. "In all seriousness, though, I think they're ready to talk?" He looked at the trainers and they placed their contracts on the table.

Cynthia turned away from Lucas and agreed.

"I think so too," she said to him quietly before clearing her throat once more. Cynthia was quite good at getting people's attention, she must say. "Well, I'm assuming you're all satisfied with your contracts, right?" Each trainer gave her a nod so she continued. "If that's it, then it was good talking to you all. I wish you all luck in the Sinnoh League and hopefully the Lily of the Valley Conference."

"Thank you, Cynthia," all five trainers echoed.

Cynthia nodded her head and rose from her seat. Immediately, Lucas and the rest of the Elite Four followed suit, rising just as quickly. Mr. Goodshow followed and the six exited the room, leaving just Professor Rowan and the five other trainers.

"Well, there's that," Professor Rowan spoke up, with a chuckle. He turned to each trainer and said, "Well, I'm assuming that you all already know this, but make the most out of your journey." Each teenager nodded their head once more and Professor continued, "As an old man, it pains me to see such young people not live their lives to the fullest."

Lenny rolled his eyes.

"Oh stop Professor," he said laughing. "You're not that old. You have a long, healthy life ahead of you."

Rowan laughed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "If you say so Lenny," he said before once more turning to the others. "Again, just promise me that much," the professor continued, sounding hopeful. "Also, make sure to stop by in Sandgem. It'll be good to see you all.

"Anyway Lenny, speaking of Sandgem, would you mind coming back with me? I have a lot to talk about with you," Professor Rowan requested. Lenny didn't even need to say anything as he gave Professor Rowan a nod, and the two left, leaving four trainers.

"Well, I think I should go too," Michael spoke up. He looked at his competition and nodded. "Good luck in the Sinnoh League you all."

With that, he dismissed himself quickly. He looked to be walking with a purpose, so everyone assumed he had something to do. In the conference room was just Olivia, who seemed like she wanted to get out as fast as possible, Brett, and Brooke.

After Michael, the three had just left without saying a word to each other, Olivia being the first. Anyone with a little common sense could tell that Olivia King was fairly quiet, but that was the least important problem.

Brett and Brooke were walking next to each other in a tight hallway, and from the looks of it Brooke was trying hard to keep her distance from Brett.

"Look Brooke," he started. "I'm sorry about what happened back then. I didn't mean what I said! I was just annoyed!"

Brooke, animosity in her eyes, turned around and stared at Brett. She walked towards him simply glaring.

"Brett, it was five years ago," she spat out. If someone could literally talk with venom, she would have a lot of it. "Honestly, I'm over it, but it doesn't make what you said any closer to being remotely right," Brooke said. "All I know is that I proved you wrong and I'm willing to prove you wrong once more by beating you in the Lily of the Valley Conference."

Brett looked at her and shook his head. He had the most confused expression on his face, but he still responded nonetheless.

"I just don't understand why we can't be friends," he said, looking at the ground. Picking up his gaze, he stared right through her blue eyes. "As you said, it was five years ago, but if you want to go down this road of not liking each other and being rivals, I'll gladly prove that I'm the better trainer."

He didn't even wait for a response and walked past her. As Brett walked by, Brooke could swear that she saw a teardrop fall, but it was probably her imagination. His steps were quiet and fast; the only thing on his mind was getting far away from her.

"That bitch wouldn't cry in front of me," she said to herself. "He doesn't have the nerves."

As Brooke continued walking out of the building, her eyes were glued to the red carpet she was walking on. As much as she didn't want to admit it, her eyes were tearing up. _Why do I care so much? He said himself that didn't back in Pallet…_ she thought to herself.

With that, Brooke reached the exit to the Pokemon League. She was the final one to leave and she had a lot of work to get started on. It was best to get her mind off of whatever just happened.

 _Fuck him,_ she concluded. _I have to win this time._

 **X.x.X**

 _Sandgem Town, Sinnoh_

 _September 3rd, 2032_

Professor Rowan and Lenny were back in Sandgem Town. Before they left the Pokemon League Facility, Professor Rowan told Lenny he had something to talk to him about. The entire ride to his lab, Lenny insisted that the professor tell him what it is, but Professor Rowan told him that he has to be at the lab to told him.

"Lenny Collins, I must say, I have never met someone as im- wait, maybe there's one," Rowan said, laughing. "But you get my point. You need to work on being less demanding and impatient."

"Professor, I'm not impatient!" Lenny told him, a little too defensively. Rowan just rolled his eyes, waiting for Lenny to say something meaningful. "Now that we're at your lab, you can tell me, right?"

In fact, the duo was at the lab. The laboratory wasn't a large building, considering the small town it was in, but it got the job done. As Rowan was a more hands-on professor, contrary to his increasing age, he didn't need it too much. It was a one room facility with a lot of books that Rowan's assistants and colleagues read, which most of them Rowan wrote himself. However, there was one place Professor Rowan was fond of and it was his large, incredible expensive computer that only he could use.

"Yes Lenny, I can tell you," Rowan said. Lenny was practically jumping for joy when he heard those words. "Just… please stop pestering me about it."

"Alright, alright," Lenny said.

Lenny lead Professor Rowan back to his desk as he assumed he'd want to sit down after all that they did today. The professor thanked Lenny as he sat down and prepared to start business. Lenny pulled up a chair across from Rowan and clasped his hands together, in an ironic fashion.

"Soooo-"

"Well," interrupted Rowan, "since I know how impatient you are, let's get started, shall we?" Rowan cleared his throat, and immediately Lenny knew he was in for a long discussion. "You remember, before you left for Hoenn, how I was doing research on the three orbs?"

Lenny raised an eyebrow at what he said.

"Orbs? What kinds of orbs?"

Rowan let out a sigh. _Why do I even bother with him_ , he thought to himself.

"The Timespace Orbs, Lenny," he said bluntly. _I swear to God if he doesn-_

"Ohh yeah!" Lenny exclaimed, basically facepalming. "The Lustrous, Adamant, and Griseous Orbs?" Professor Rowan gave Lenny a quick nod, prompting him to continue. "We spent years researching them! What happened?" he asked. Rowan cleared his throat once more-this time more dramatic effect, Lenny assumed-as he prepared to explain.

"Well, in the past year, I have found that there has been a drastic energy spike with them, compared to when we were looking at them five years ago," Rowan explained. Lenny figured there was more to the story, so he let the professor continue. "My theory is that someone could be messing with the orbs, which is very bad."

"I think you're looking to far into it," Lenny put out. "Maybe it's just another professor."

"We should still be cautious about it," Rowan explained some more. "You weren't alive when it happened, but you do remember the last time someone messed with the Timespace Orbs, right? I'm sure we talked about it."

Lenny nodded his head in confirmation.

"Yeah, we have," Lenny said. "Team Space or whatever got ahold of the Lustrous and Adamant Orbs and the Lake Trio." Lenny paused for confirmation, which Professor Rowan gave him.

"Team Galactic, but yes, correct so far. Continue." Lenny nodded and did what he was told.

"Well, with the Lake Trio, they created the Red Chain and summoned both Dialga and Palkia. Using the Red Chain, they planned on taking control of Dialga and Palkia, which they succeeded for a bit," Lenny said. "The region was about to be destroyed, but sensing a disturbance, Giratina came and trapped their leader in the Distortion World. The Red Chain was disrupted and Cynthia and Lucas defeated Team Galactic!"

Professor Rowan nodded in approval with an impressed look on his face. Lenny saw that and gave him a smirk, drawing Rowan to roll his eyes.

"Not going lie, Lenny, I'm impressed you remember that much. Of course, there's more to it, but for a brief explanation, it's spot on," Rowan told him. "Anyway, back to my theory. Even if it is a researcher messing with the orbs, that can still do a lot of damage. A little power spike can cause problems with time, space, or antimatter, respectively."

Professor Rowan let out a sign, and after explaining, he logged on to his computer and started typing rigorously. Lenny waited curiously, tapping his fingers on the desk. After five minutes, Professor Rowan turned the monitor around to face Lenny. On screen there was a line graph and it had three lines: a blue, a pink, and a red one, each representing one Timespace Orb.

"Lenny," the professor started, looking directly at him, "if you take a look at the graph, you can see that the amount of energy that each orb produces has exponentially increased these past few years."

Lenny glanced at Professor Rowan with a confused look. Despite the amount of years he spent working with him, Lenny would never understand certain aspects of science. Professor Rowan saw Lenny's look and elaborated.

"With more energy each orb produces, Lenny, they become more active," Professor Rowan explained, but Lenny had just raised his eyebrow. Sighing, Professor Rowan continued. "By active, I mean they essentially start to disrupt balance in the world. For example, if the Adamant Orb starts to produce a certain amount of energy, it can disrupt the balance of time in our world."

Lenny nodded at what Professor Rowan said with a look of realization on his face. This had gotten a slight smile from the professor, but Lenny didn't pay attention as he started to speak.

"I think I understand, Professor Rowan," Lenny said, a satisfied look on his face. "Going by your logic then, if the Griseous Orb ended up generating over a certain amount of energy, would there be rifts between the normal world and Distortion World?"

Professor Rowan nodded his head and prepared to speak once more.

"If the Griseous Orb generates a drastic amount of energy, then yes, rifts between both world would occur," he said. "However, looking at how much energy the Griseous Orb is producing now, it would cause a little matter to change into antimatter."

Lenny started at Professor Rowan with his mouth wide open in disbelief. It was extremely hard to believe that such small orbs had powers this great.

"These orbs have the power to do things like this?" Lenny asked, which Professor Rowan nodded in response. "I knew that the Timespace Orbs shouldn't be messed with, but wow."

"You have to understand that these orbs were created by some power beyond our world, and we do not fully understand them," he said, looking at Lenny with an intent gaze. "If people really are tampering with the Timespace Orbs, this is a rather dangerous situation."

"I agree completely," Lenny responded, getting up from his seat. Taking a glance at the line graph before him, he actually realized how large of an increase they've made these past few years. He turned back to Professor Rowan and opened his mouth again to speak. "I'm going to check on one of the orbs, Professor Rowan, and see what's happening. Is this alright?"

Professor Rowan sighed at Lenny's proclamation. He glanced down at the floor before looking back at him. He simply stared at him for a long time, with a rather worried expression, but after a shake of his head, Rowan opened his mouth to speak.

"Yes," he finally said. "It's probably the best thing for us to do, but please be care-"

Lenny sarcastically rolled his eyes at Professor Rowan and gave him a smirk. The professor saw this, causing him to let out a sigh. _Too reckless,_ he thought to himself before Lenny continued.

"Professor! Don't worry about me, I'll be fine," Lenny said. "I'm only going in and out, just to check the area, and I have my Pokemon with me."

Rowan nodded his head, but he had a crestfallen look on his face, which Lenny didn't realize.

"I understand that, Lenny, but I can't help but worry for you," he said. "You're way too reckless, and I don't want you suffering the same fate as-"

Lenny cut him off, shaking his head as he did so.

"Professor, that was nearly ten years ago," Lenny said with a stoic expression. "And plus, their death was an accident, anyway. There was no way to expect what could happen." Lenny looked at Professor Rowan with an observant gaze, searching for any doubts and when he found none, smiled. "I will be careful, though, Professor Rowan."

The professor gave Lenny a slight smile and subtly nodded his head at him.

"Okay, I'm glad to hear that," he said. "Anyway Lenny, do you know where the closest Timespace Orb is?"

Lenny opened his eyes wide and shook his head. He didn't even have to say anything for the professor to shake his head.

"I figured that they were all in the same place, maybe somewhere like Mount Coronet," Lenny said in defense, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish look.

"Well, they're not, Lenny. These orbs are scattered across the region, hidden incredibly well," Rowan started with a blank expression. "The closest orb us, however, would be the Adamant Orb, the one representing Dialga. It is located in Iron Island, which is just north of Canalave City."

Lenny didn't waste any time before responding.

"Alright then Professor," he began. He flashed Rowan a look of confidence then said, "It's time for me to set off. I'll make sure to get back to you soon, though."

"Very well, Lenny." The professor nodded his head. "Get back to me soon, though, Iron Island isn't exactly the safest area to be in."

Lenny waved Professor Rowan off with a smirk before saying his goodbyes. As Lenny left the lab, he couldn't help but feel worried for him. Sighing to himself, Professor Rowan got back to work, turning his monitor back around. He looked at the graph and shook his head.

 _Hopefully, it's nothing too dangerous._ _I want him to be safe._

 **X.x.X**

 _Veilstone City, Sinnoh_

 _September 3rd, 2032_

"Scizor, Bullet Punch into Superpower! Zoroark, phase him with a Night Daze, then punish with Flamethrower!" a blond teenager called from the end of a battlefield.

The red, metal-coated Bug-type rushed across the dirt field, leaving a cloud of dust. His pincers glowed took a dark gray outline, almost resembling metal, and kept them pointed at the Zoroark across from him. Just as he was about to reach her, she raised both of her hands above her head and brought them down to the ground hard. This caused a wave of dark energy to come towards the Scizor, ultimately disrupting his attack. The Night Daze pushed him back, but didn't appear to do much damage.

The Zoroark was almost finished with her command when she opened her mouth wide and started to form fire. However, when she saw Brett walk onto the field, she stopped.

"So," he started. "Judging by what just happened, Scizor" - he looked at the Pincer Pokemon - "your attacks aren't as fast as we need them to be. Normally, a Bullet Punch would've beaten out Night Daze, but yours was a little off." He then walked over to the Zoroark and nodded his head. "I'm surprised with you, though. You pulled off that Night Daze, which is usually a slower move, incredibly fast. Although it didn't do much damage to Scizor, it did have a good amount of power behind it."

Brett looked pleased with his compliments and walked back over to Scizor, who stared at the ground with an upset look

"Don't seem down about that, Scizor," Brett spoke up. "If it was any other Pokemon, that easily would've been a devastating blow. It's just that you aren't as fast as you used to be, and I've trained her to be extremely fast in attacking speed."

Scizor looked down at Brett and nodded his head.

"Sciz, scizor."

"Imagine if we get that Bullet Punch to be faster, buddy," Brett said with a smirk on his fast. "That'll open up so many combinations, and you'll be near unstoppable."

Scizor returned his trainer's smirk and held his pincer out for a fistbump of sorts. Brett immediately saw this and brought his fist out. The two had an awkward fistbump and laughed it off.

After, Brett had walked back to where he was before and got ready to give out more commands. They had been doing this for the past hour and neither Pokemon had gotten tired.

"You guys ready?" Brett called out. When his Pokemon gave him noises of confirmation, he smirked and called out commands.

"Scizor, use Swords Dance and charge with an Night Slash shield! Then, I want you to use Superpower!" he yelled. "Zoroark, I want you to fire a Flamethrower!"

Immediately, Zoroark fired out a stream of bright red flames and it was closing in on the Steel-type bug. However, with his attack boost, Scizor began charging forward, glowing a darker red, and his pincers were a pitch black color. His night black pincers met the Flamethrower attack and he charged right through it. When he finally met Zoroark, he prepared to hit her as hard as he could with his entire body, but was stopped by Brett.

"Good job, Scizor!"

The blond rushed forward and patted the Pokemon on his broad, metallic shoulders. Brett was very impressed with what he had just done.

"I think we just found a way to make approaching easier for you," he started with a smirk. "Instead of looking at the speed side, we can have you boost your attack with Swords Dance, then you can just power through whatever ranged attack your opponent throws at you."

Scizor had a slight smirk on his face when Brett said that. Jokingly, the steel bug flexed a little, drawing an eye roll from Brett, who then turned to his Zoroark.

"Despite Scizor powering through your Flamethrower, the attack itself seemed very strong, I must say." Brett looked at the Dark-type fox before him, with a curious look. In response, the Illusion Fox Pokemon shrugged her shoulders, her long red mane swaying in the wind. "Have you been training with Charizard?"

Once again, the Zoroark shrugged, avoiding eye contact with Brett, who had just sighed.

"Zoroark, I told you not to practice Flamethrower with him because your Flamethrowers are completely different. To put his simply, his Flamethrower attack is pure fire, while I want yours to incorporate some dark energy into it."

Zoroark rolled her eyes at Brett before transforming into a massive orange lizard, who stood just over six feet tall. Flexing her orange and blue wings, she looked up and fired a long stream of bright red-orange fire into the air.

"Charizard makes that Flamethrower seem strong because he's been able to use it for years now," Brett said, crossing his arms. "His Flamethrower is meant to burn his opponents to a crisp, plain and simple. Yours, though, is meant to target a variety of types. If we fuse dark energy into it, we can hit Psychics and Ghosts a lot harder."

Zoroark morphed into a small black fox and hopped onto Brett's shoulders. In her Zorua form, she was able to sit comfortably like this for a long time. Brett turned to Scizor, who was trying his hardest not to burst out laughing.

Brett shot his Bug-type a glare, and he immediately stopped laughing. Turning his attention to Zoroark, he shook his head.

"Why can't you just cooperate with me? I'm trying to turn you into the strongest Zoroark in the world and your refusing my suggestions," Brett simply said. When Zoroark met his gaze, he opened his mouth to speak. "You know Grimsley's Zoroark right?

The Zoroark-turned-Zorua gave Brett a nod, prompting him to continue.

"Well, he knows that exact Flamethrower technique and it's probably very close to the power of Charizard's," he told her. "Once we work on fusing the Flamethrower and dark energy, then we can work on the power of it."

The Zoroark jumped down from Brett's shoulders and hopped around happily.

"Zorua! Zor! Zor!"

Brett laughed at his Dark-type's antics and continued on.

"Maybe once we're done with the dark Flamethrower, then we can work on your pure fire one," he said to her with a smirk. "Then, everyone will be scared of your Flamethrower because of how versatile it is!"

Zoroark yipped as loud as she could in excitement and jumped into Brett's arms, licking his face. Brett pet the Dark-type on the small, black, red-tipped tuft of fur on the top of her head.

However, interrupting the human-Pokemon moment, was ironically Brett's Scizor. His red pincer lightly tapped him on the shoulder, grabbing his attention. Not even giving Brett a chance to respond, he pointed over to a stone set of stairs and a human was walking down from them.

Lenny returned Zoroark into her Pokeball and walked towards the person quietly with his Scizor next to him. When they were close enough, Brett and Scizor could make out an older man, with purple hair. He wore a dark purple jacket, black jeans, and black shoes. As he walked down the stairs, he kept his hands in his pockets and held a gaze on Brett.

Upon recognizing who it was, Brett took a few steps back and held his mouth opened wide.

"Mr. Shinji?"

Paul didn't say anything as he walked towards Brett. He glanced at his Scizor and nodded respectfully. The Bug-type, sensing a lot of power from the person, nodded back in return.

"I see you train your Pokemon with a lot of respect, Brett," he said, turning his gaze back to the Sinnoh trainer. Brett didn't say anything, but nod at him. "That's a good thing, something I wish I knew when I was your age."

Mr. Shinji smirked at Brett and stuck his hand out for a handshake. Almost immediately, Brett took his hand and shook it, nodding his head.

"Please, though, call me Paul," he said. "It'd be nice, not being so formal all of the time." Paul laughed and Brett awkwardly shared one with him.

"I guess so," Brett finally said. "What made you come down to see me train, though? I'm curious."

Paul shrugged. "I was raised in Veilstone, and since the Kalos League is out of season, I have a small vacation, so I just wanted to visit my hometown." Paul sighed aloud before continuing. "I really don't get that many opportunities to travel anymore, to be completely honest, but I can't complain."

Brett nodded before speaking. "I can only imagine what it's like, being an Elite Four member and all."

"It's not as bad as most people think, Brett," Paul said. "We really just single out trainers not ready to face the Champion. Since I'm the last Elite Four member, I don't get too many challengers, but the ones I do get, are incredibly strong."

"I couldn't even fathom how intense your battles are," Brett said with a laugh. "The trainers you face could probably sweep my team, now that I think about it."

Paul shook his head. "I wouldn't think so, Brett. The trainers I face are probably a little stronger than Misty for the most part." Brett simply sighed at that statement. Paul looked at his Scizor, too, and saw him glance at the ground. Seeing this, he reassuringly put a hand on Brett's shoulders.

"It was a very good battle, you do realize, right? If you were a little bit more experienced, you definitely could've won. Anyone who isn't blind can see that you took Misty to her limits."

Brett looked up and smiled at Paul, bowing his head thankfully.

"I really appreciate that, Paul, thank you," Brett said. Paul just smiled and nodded his head.

"It's no problem," Paul said. "Y'know the Kalos League could've used someone like you, but I guess Cynthia got to you first." Both trainers shared a laugh, and Paul continued on. "Nonetheless, though, I can foresee a great future here for you in Sinnoh, and this is coming from someone who's been in the Sinnoh League a lot."

"Thank you again," Brett said. In the back of his mind, though, he couldn't help but have his doubts. In the silence, however, Paul took a glance at his watch and sighed.

"Well, I guess it's time for me to take my leave," he said. "As much as I would want to stay and chat or even have a small battle, I have to go meet my brother." As the Elite Four member prepared to leave, he said, "Good luck in this season and make sure to go far!"

With that, the experienced Paul Shinji left, going up the stairs he came from. Watching him leave, Brett couldn't help but smirk to himself. Even though he had his doubts, Brett had still gotten personally complimented by arguably one of the strongest trainers in the world, and he wasn't going to let up anytime soon.

"We're going to train as hard as we possibly can," Brett said, turning to his Scizor who nodded proudly. "We're going to win the Lily of the Valley Conference and conquer the Elite Four."

"Scizor!" the red Bug-type cheered.

Brett could feel the other Pokeballs on his belt shake in excitement. They all were one team, and each had one same, common goal: they were going to conquer the Sinnoh region.

* * *

 **And there you have it! The first chapter of this different OT fanfiction! I really hope that this satisfied you all, and that you consider sticking around. Please leave a review and give me any sort of criticism that can better this story. Before I sign off, though, I'll leave you guys with a few questions.**

 **1: What do you think of the characters I introduced? While some may be more established than others, I feel like I made their personalities clear.**

 **2: Do you like the different approach I took of trainers getting signed to leagues?**

 **3: Overall, what are some of your thoughts so far? Maybe some things you'd want to see?**


	2. Chapter 2 - The Realization

**Alright! Here's chapter two of _Transcended!_ Last time, a lot of characters were introduced, and a few began their Sinnoh journies relatively early. Lenny had went out on a errand for Professor Rowan and Brett had encountered one of the Kalos Elite Four members, Paul! This time, though, we get to see what a few more characters are doing first on the beginnings of their journies. Instead of delaying any further, though, let's get into chapter two!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 2 - The Realization**_

 _Jubilife City, Sinnoh_

 _September 3rd, 2032_

Currently, it was night in Jubilife City and it had been raining hard for the past few hours. The only lights in the city had been the street lights and the occasional lights turned on from other people's windows. Michael Owens' Pokemon Center room had been dark, but he was standing at one of his windows, looking at the city before him. He had been holding a phone at his ear, and through the ringing noises, he could faintly hear the raindrops beating down hard on the roof.

 _Please answer, Mom,_ he thought to himself.

His pleads had not been answered as his phone went straight to voicemail for the third time in a row. Letting out a sigh, he decided to leave a voicemail.

"Hey Mom, I get your busy now, but I have really good news for you," he started. Walking over to his bed, he sat down and continued, "I just signed a contract to the Sinnoh League that's probably worth about fifteen million Pokedollars, and I'm stoked." Besides him, a sleeping Sylveon opened her eyes and rested her head on his leg, wrapping her feelers around him. Michael smiled at the Eeveelution and pet her. "However, the competition this year is insane and I have to train extremely well if I want to succeed. That's all for now, but please call me back when you get the chance."

With that, Michael took the phone away from his ear and sent the voicemail. He looked down at the pink Fairy-type next to him and smiled.

"At least you're here for me, Sylveon," Michael said, petting her head. Sylveon, wrapping her feelers around his arm now, let out a cry of happiness at the affection her trainer was showing him. "You know just how to make a trainer feel good."

"Sylv! Sylveon!" the Intertwining Pokemon cried out, rubbing her head against Michael's side.

"Alright, you have to stop now, bud," Michael said, with a laugh. "Just because it's raining outside, doesn't mean we don't have work to do."

Sylveon bowed her head and backed away from Michael and laid back down. The brunet, though, went into his backpack at the side of his bed and pulled out a black laptop. He set it on his lap and opened it up, quickly logging in.

"We have to watch some film on other trainers in the Sinnoh League, Sylveon." Upon hearing no response, he turned to the dog and saw she had been sleeping. Rolling his eyes, he went back to his laptop and went onto the internet.

He swiftly typed in the website he was going on in the search bar, and in less than a second, he had the website out in front of him.

 _The Pokemon Battle Network,_ he thought to himself. _Now, just let me look at the listed competitors registered for the Sinnoh League._ He clicked at the "league" tab listed at the top of the site and a menu with all of the regions appeared. He didn't waste any time before clicking "Sinnoh" and another menu appeared. _Um, now roster._

He clicked on the "roster" tab and a list of all the competitors appeared before him. He looked for his name and saw it near the bottom of the page as it went in alphabetical order.

"There we go," he said to himself. "Now, whose film are we watching?" He switched the order from alphabetical to "best chances to win" and began looking. "Number one seed, Thomas Jackson, number two seed, Sarah Williams, number three seed, Brett Rodrigu- wait, wasn't this guy at the league meeting?" he asked himself, listing the top three seeds in the Sinnoh League as of now.

Clicking on his name, he read his biography and was surprised at what he read through.

"Woah! Lost to Misty of the Indigo League in a 1-0 match!" he exclaimed. He had expected all the people in the conference room to be strong, but this guy seemed on another level to Michael. _Let's see if we can pull up this match._

After clicking the videos tab on Brett's profile, the first one he saw was his match against Misty. He immediately clicked on it and saw it was about forty minutes and had 1.2 million views. _This guy is kinda famous_ , he thought to himself with a laugh. He started playing the video and sat back.

" **This is the Indigo League match against challenger Brett Rodriguez and Cerulean City's Misty Waterflower! First trainer to knock out all of the opposing trainer's Pokemon will be declared the winner!"** the official exclaimed from the referee box.

Michael had quickly paused the video in order to examine what had been going on. The battlefield they were using resembled a beach of sorts. There was a massive pond in the middle of the field with various small islands inside of it. There was a lot of sand and various sized palm trees. Across from Brett Rodriguez was Misty - a red-haired female wearing an orange tank top with blue jean shorts that went to her mid thigh. She also had on blue sandals, which fit the water theme of the field.

The two trainers appeared to be exchanging words that camera hadn't picked up, but both Misty and Brett appeared fired up.

"Well, I'm in for the long haul," Michael said as he switched positions on his bed, so he was lying down, the laptop screen facing him. The two trainers had sent out their first Pokemon and Michael braced himself for a classic battle. "Here we go!"

…

"Holy fucking shit," Michael said to himself about thirty-five minutes later. He had been watching Brett's battle in its entirety and tried to decipher every single play made by him. While there had been a few mistakes, overall, Michael was very impressed and the battle had lived up to the apparent hype. "This is insane."

The battle wasn't over yet, though. Right now, both trainers were at their final Pokemon and it could've gone either way. On the screen, there was a massive Mega Charizard Y facing off a Mega Blastoise. The pond that had once stood had been completely evaporated by the Charizard's Fire-type moves and his Drought ability did a number on Misty's offensive Water-types. The small islands in the pond had been leveled by multiple Earthquake attacks from Brett's Garchomp and Misty's Seismitoad the round before. Literally, Michael was on the edge of his seat watching this.

" **Use Hydro Pump, Blastoise!"** the redhead commanded, throwing her hands out.

" **Meet it! Solar Beam!"** Brett returned, throwing a fist up.

Both trainers had been drenched in sweat from the blazing sun above them and doused in water from the various Water-type attacks used throughout this contest. Misty and Brett were both visibly tired as they were breathing and panting heavily.

Both Kanto starters charged up their respective attacks and fired them with as much force as they had done the first time. The Solar Beam had hit the extremely high-pressured Hydro Pump and immediately overpowered it, pushing back into the Mega Blastoise.

" **Protect!"** Misty shouted.

A durable, transparent, blue sphere formed around the Shellfish Pokemon and Charizard's Solar Beam crashed right into it. Despite the power and force behind the Grass-type attack, it wasn't enough to break the Blastoise's Protect barrier and he let out a roar, almost taunting Charizard.

" **Blastoise! Blast!"** the turtle-like Pokemon screamed raising his small, stubby arms.

When the Blastoise was done, Misty had a smirk on her face. Even though both attacks took a lot of energy out of each Pokemon, Blastoise was ready for more, and she didn't waste anytime to capitalize.

" **Ice Beam!"**

From his large cannons, Blastoise shot out a small, skinny beam of ice. Despite its smaller size, the speed it was traveling at definitely made it seem like it would hurt. Brett saw this and quickly yelled a counter.

" **Flamethrower, Charizard!"**

Charizard looked at the Ice Beam attack coming towards him and opened his mouth wide. Almost instantaneously, he started breathing out one of the largest and brightest Flamethrowers Michael had ever seen. The Fire-type attack completely devoured the Ice Beam and went right towards Blastoise. Misty didn't even have time to yell out a counter before Blastoise was engulfed in flames.

When Brett and Charizard saw this, they both had smirks on their face and the cameraman didn't fail to pick up on that. Michael quickly saw their last mistake.

"They think they've won," he said to himself shaking his head.

Roughly five seconds later, the fire from the Flamethrower completely dispersed and Blastoise, covered in burns, scratches, and blood, was standing tall, smirking, with an almost bloodthirsty look on his face. Misty also had a smirk on her face and Brett was standing there mouth wide open. His Charizard, though, snarled at the Blastoise and prepared for another attack.

" **Rain Dance, Blastoise!"** Misty practically screamed with pleasure, throwing both hands up.

" **Get off one more Solar Beam Charizard!"** Brett yelled out in desperation.

Despite the horrified look on Brett's face, he still commanded his Pokemon efficiency. With the remaining sunlight, Charizard shot another green beam straight at Blastoise, but the turtle was not phased as he fired a blue orb into the sky. Immediately, the blazing sun from Charizard's Drought ability was covered by rain clouds. Seconds after, it started to downpour on the battlefield and everyone close to it. By the time the Solar Beam was remotely close to Blastoise, it had died out completely due to there being no sunlight for it to feed off of.

"Just like that, Misty takes advantage again," Michael commentated to himself. He was completely absorbed into the battle. _It's really so amazing how she has total control over the battlefield. I guess that's why she got appointed as one of the last Elite Four members._

On screen, the camera was zoomed in on Brett's face, which had been staring determinedly at Misty and her Blastoise. The camera panned out to Charizard, and he shared the same expression as Brett.

"They're completely in synch," Michael said, sitting up from his inclined position. Despite their determination, though, anyone could see that both trainer and Pokemon had been completely exhausted and drained at this point. Charizard was panting at a fast pace and Brett had sweat and water all over his face and body. His chest had also been moving up and down fast, which meant he was breathing quite heavily.

" **Brett,"** Misty started, a slight smirk remaining on her face. Michael was surprised that the camera picked up on this, so he listened closely. **"I must say, this is one of the most difficult battles my team and I have had in awhile, and we give you a lot of credit."** Misty then dropped the smirk and pointed forward dramatically. **"However, this is as far as you're going to get! Blastoise, finish Charizard with a Hydro Cannon!"**

" **Dragon Pulse, Charizard!"** Brett exclaimed, throwing a fist forward.

The fact that Brett was even able to give out a command in time made Michael's jaw drop. Both Pokemon unleashed their attacks almost simultaneously. Blastoise fired out two large, dark blue spheres out of its cannons and Charizard fired out a multicolored stream of draconic energy, which was lead by a literal dragon head.

The two attacks met midfield, causing an explosion. Not even a second later, one even larger Hydro Cannon burst out of the dust cloud the explosion produced and sniped Charizard in the chest, causing him to drop like a mere fly.

Michael looked on with both of his eyes the size of two baseballs, mouth still wide open.

"What the fuck?! The force of that Hydro Cannon was incredible!" he had exclaimed, almost jumping in his seat.

Once Charizard had hit the ground, though, pink energy surrounded him. Both Misty and Brett looked on with a knowing expression as this happened, although Brett's appeared much more devastated. As soon as the pink energy went away, Charizard was left there in his normal form, eyes closed tight.

" **Charizard is unable to battle! Therefore, Brett has lost all of his Pokemon, making Misty the winner of this contest!"**

The recording didn't stop there as Brett dropped to his knees, clearly sobbing. He had made it that far into his Elite Four challenge and lost in an incredibly close match to Misty. Brett silently recalled Charizard back into his Pokeball as the recording ended.

Michael closed his laptop and put it to the side, at a complete loss of words. He turned his gaze to the Sylveon who had still been sleeping at the end of the Pokemon Center-provided bed.

 _If we want to end up like that, we have to train much harder than we're used to._ As he reclined back into his pillow, he nodded his head to himself. _This year is going to be different for all of us._

With that, Michael closed his eyes and let his mind wonder off. Before he could even realize, complete darkness overtook his vision and he fell into a long, deep sleep.

 **X.x.X**

 _Sunyshore City_

 _September 4th, 2032_

Despite it near downpouring on the western side of Sinnoh, the eastern side, specifically Sunyshore City, had the sun beating down on it. It was around noon and Olivia King was laying down on a towel, soaking in the sun. She was wearing a simple light blue bikini and was relaxing as she found a spot where there wasn't too many people.

 _This is nice,_ she thought to herself as she stared at the clear blue sky. _There's no disruptions or any reason to feel stress._ She closed her eyes and smiled. _Just peace._

Scattered around Olivia, there was three Pokemon. The most apparent was a large, blue mudfish practically hiding in the water with his eyes closed. Much like Olivia, the Swampert was taking in the peacefulness of the closed-off beach they had found. Another Pokemon, though, was a dark red, ape-like Pokemon with two massive arms. The most notable feature of the Darmanitan was the flame-eyebrows coming out above her eyes. She was sitting in sand under the shade of a massive tree with a bored expression on her face. The last one was a massive, brown humanoid Pokemon that sat cross-legged with his eyes closed under the shade of a different tree. By his sides, the Conkeldurr had two equally as massive concrete pillars.

As Olivia laid down peacefully, though, she opened her eyes and sat up. She reached into the bag by her towel and grabbed her phone. Checking the time, she saw that it was almost one in the afternoon. She quickly put on her normal clothes - a white tank top with a pink Pokeball design, blue jean shorts that went to the middle of her thigh, and black flip flops.

"I can't sit around all day," Olivia said as she rose to her feet, stretching. "As nice as this beach is, I need to start planning out this journey. It has to be near flawless." She looked around and saw that the three Pokemon were paying no attention to her, so she decided to get their attention. "Guys!" she yelled.

Upon her yell, each Pokemon turned their attention towards her. Darmanitan practically sprinted over, a wide smile on her face as her eyebrows flared even more. Olivia smiled and pet her on the head. Soon after, Conkeldurr slowly walked over to her, with a stoic expression on his face.

 _I seriously don't understand how he carries those pillars around everywhere,_ she thought to herself with a laugh. _Anyway, we have everyo-_

Olivia turned around towards the ocean and saw that her Swampert had still been sleeping in the clear, despite the fact that he clearly heard her. Letting out a sigh, she called his name one more time, and in response, he sunk underwater. To anyone else, it would look like the Mud Fish Pokemon had been dead, but Olivia knew better.

Not even paying attention to the other two Pokemon, which was hard, considering her Darmanitan was uncontrollably laughing, Olivia muttered something incomprehensible under her breath and stormed over to the Water-type, who hadn't even heard her footsteps. Next to Darmanitan, though, Conkeldurr simply rolled his eyes at the whole situation.

 _Thank God that I'm used to doing this at this point_ _,_ Olivia thought as she neared the submerged Swampert.

"You never learn, bud," she said to herself. Taking a deep breath, Olivia jumped right onto Swamperts back and screamed into his ear. "Get up! We have to be doing things right now, and your lazy ass is holding us up!"

As Swampert let out a growl in response, Olivia's Darmanitan had basically been crying on the beach, much to the annoyance of the bulky Fighting-type standing right next to her.

"Get out of the water!" Olivia yelled once more, and this time Swampert grudgingly gave in, slowly opening his orange eyes

"Swaaaaamp," the Ground-type moaned as he slowly walked out of the water, Olivia smiling proudly from his back. In response to his moan, she rolled her eyes and pat his soaked side, whispering something in Swampert's ear.

"It's not the end of the world, y'know," she said. "We'll get plenty of times to come back here, alright?"

The Hoenn starter Pokemon made a low noise in agreement that almost sounded like something vibrating. Once more, Olivia rolled her eyes, and after what seemed like hours, Swampert finally reached the other two Pokemon. Interestingly enough, Darmanitan finished his laughing fit mere seconds before Swampert reached them, ultimately pleasing the Muscular Pokemon. When she was certain everyone settled down, though, Olivia hopped off her Swampert and started to speak.

"Well," the brunette began, running a hand through her hair, "as you guys probably know, the Sinnoh League starts very, _very_ soon." Each Pokemon gave her a nod or noise - in Darmanitan's case - of confirmation. "That means our first gym challenge is going to be right around the corner," Olivia said, making sure to eye all three of the Pokemon she had out. "I just want to let you all know that these battles aren't going to be simple and easy anymore. Since I am required to use my strongest team, as per contractual rules, the gym leaders will also be using their strongest teams, which are near Elite Four-caliber."

Once she said that, she gained the interest of all her Pokemon and they waited for her to continue on. Seeing this, she smiled once more.

 _At least they all love a good challenge,_ she thought to herself. _I can't wait to see the other's reactions, especially Goodra's._

Clearing her throat, though, Olivia continued, "The reason why we are in Sunyshore right now is because the first gym that I want to challenge is here." Darmanitan let out a war cry of sorts and began to beat his chest. This drew a laugh out of everyone, including Conkeldurr, as Olivia went on. "Thank you for that Darmanitan" - Olivia made sure to pet him on the forehead - "but in all seriousness, we have to be ready because we're challenging Tyson in exactly a week's time and this could be one of our hardest battles yet. Even though it's three versus three, we all have to be ready. Considering he's normally the eighth and final gym leader, expect his team to be exceptionally strong."

After Olivia finished, Swampert and Darmanitan eyed her with smirks and a fiery look in their eyes - Conkeldurr still had remained his blank, expression, much to Olivia's amusement. Looking at her Pokemon, though, she nodded her head and smiled.

"You know, I should've expected you all to be excited about this," the brunette said. "After the way we ended at the Ever Grande Conference, we need to crush the competition this year, no matter how good they are."

Darmanitan cheered as loud as she possibly could, banging on her chest in a primitive manner once more. Swampert, though, maintained a sly smirk on his face, nodding slowly. Olivia looked at Pokemon's reactions and laughed, although she did take a quick glance at Conkeldurr and sighed.

 _How can he be so serious all of the time? When Conkeldurr was a Timburr, he was a lot mo-_

"Dar! Darmanitan!"

Olivia's thoughts were interrupted by her energetic Fire-type who practically sprinted in front of her. She turned around to where Darmanitan sprinted and saw someone - a long-haired, redheaded male, who appeared in his early thirties, wearing a dark blue shirt and brown cargo shorts - approach her. Darmanitan stood between her and the stranger in a defensive stance, while Swampert and Conkeldurr slowly walked to her sides.

"W-who are you?" she stuttered out, backing up in defense.

"Relax," he started. "I'm not here to hurt you or anything. I don't even have anything I can use to harm you" - he raised his arms with his palms open, to back up his claim - "I was walking around Sunyshore when I heard a Pokemon scream, so I went to check it out."

"I-I don't care," Olivia said blatantly, followed with a snarl from her Swampert. "I asked who you were and I want to know."

"Whatever," the redhead simply responded, shrugging his shoulders. "The name's Silver and I'm traveling here from the Johto region in order to take care of something. Would you like to know my whole life story, too?" Silver had an annoyed expression behind his tone, which took Olivia aback.

"Not really," Olivia shot back. "I'd just rather be safe, considering you're a complete stranger and probably like twice my age."

"You do realize I'm a gym leader in Johto, too, right?" Silver asked her. "Why would I want to jeopardize my career assaulting a little kid?"

Olivia glared daggers at Silver, clenching her fists at her sides. Normally, she wasn't one to talk too much, but for some reason this Silver person had gotten on her nerves.

"Little kid?" Olivia asked in a rhetorical manner. "Do you realize I have three Pokemon with me right now that could probably sweep your entire team, Mr. 'Gym Leader.'" Olivia made sure to put air quotes up when she said gym leader.

"I don't need to prove myself to a kid like you," he said, almost bitterly. Quickly, he turned his back on her and started walking away, making Olivia even more angry, to the point where her face was the color of a tomato.

"If you're so certain about that, then why don't you battle me?" she asked, bringing a smirk to the Darmanitan in front of her. _This would be a perfect way to start training for Volkner._

Silver turned around and faced the brunette, letting out a sigh.

"As much as I would want to shut you up right now, I simply don't have time to play games with you, kid," he told her, shaking his head. "Like I said, I have other important matters to attend to."

 _What the hell is this guys' problem? Aren't the gym leaders supposed to be normally nice to trainers?_ Olivia thought to herself.

"If you'd excuse me, now," Silver finally said, turning around once more.

Before he could start walking away, though, another person came into view. This time it was a blond-haired, blue-eyed trainer who looked to be a little older than Olivia. He wore a pair of ripped blue jeans and a yellow shirt. Once spotting Silver, the blond had an ear-to-ear smirk on his face.

"Silver!" he exclaimed, walking towards the apparent gym leader. "I was looking all over town for you, and once I heard bickering by the beach, I just knew it was you." He jokingly punched Silver on the shoulder, but soon turned his attention to Olivia, seemingly forgetting about the redhead.

"Olivia King?" he asked curiously, walking over to her now. He completely disregarded the Darmanitan in front of her, which took her aback, and stuck his hand out. "I'm Tyson, the gym leader of Sunyshore City, and it's good to meet one of the newest signees to the Sinnoh League."

It was Olivia's turn to be surprised. Quickly, she shook Tyson's hand as her Pokemon dropped their defensive stances and looked on curiously. She couldn't help but take a small glance at Silver and smirked a little when she saw the surprised look on his pale face.

"It's good to meet you to, Tyson," Olivia respectfully said with a nod, scanning over Tyson quickly. _To be honest, he seems fairly young to be a gym leader._

Before Tyson could say anything else, Silver had slowly walked over to the Sinnoh region's eighth gym leader. He patted him on the shoulder, effectively grabbing Tyson's attention.

"Now that we're all acquainted," Silver said, glancing at Olivia with a scowl, "I think it's time that Tyson and I take our leaves. We have very important business to take care of, I hope you understand Ms. Olivia King."

Tyson shook his head and laughed, confusing Silver.

"Now Silver," he started shaking his head, "don't think I didn't hear what your guys' bickering was about. I don't know about Evergreen City, but here in Sunyshore, noise tends to travel very quickly and clearly for some reason." He looked at Olivia and then Silver continuing on. "If the young lady challenged you to a battle, then it's your duty as a trainer and a gym leader to accept it, am I right?"

Silver just nodded his head at what Tyson said, not even bothering to argue with him.

"No, you're completely right, Tyson," he said, with a slight sigh before turning his attention back to Olivia. Looking at Silver, the brunette could tell that he didn't want to do this, considering the reluctant expression on his face. "You don't mind if it's a one-on-one battle, right?"

Olivia didn't even need to say anything in response, besides give the Johtonian gym leader a confident smile and a nod. She returned her Pokemon into their respective Pokeballs and opened her mouth to speak.

"That's fine by me, Silv-"

Olivia didn't even get to finish before Tyson had interrupted her.

"Well, there we go!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands. "Instead of battling here and causing a disruption to the environment, we can head back to my gym, if that's okay with you two."

Both trainers gave Tyson a nod and the Sunyshore City gym leader didn't even need to say anything when they started trailing back to his gym. The whole time, however, a confident smirk remained on Olivia's face. She looked down at her Pokeball belt and eyed her Swampert's Pokeball.

 _We got this…_

 **X.x.X**

 _Lake Acuity, Sinnoh_

 _September 4th, 2032_

Snowpoint City, being located in the north, was the literal, polar opposite of Sunyshore City. Despite it being the summer, it was still below twenty degrees Fahrenheit and snowing a decent amount. There had been about a little less than a foot of snow on the ground, and Brooke Winters was the least prepared for this.

"F-fuck, this place isn't as co-old as Johto or Kanto," she said to herself, her mitten-covered hands buried inside of the pockets of the dark red winter coat she had been wearing. By her side, there was a fox-like Pokemon with striking golden white fur. Her most notable features had been her red eyes and nine tails, each tipped with an orange color. Brooke glanced to the Ninetails, who was radiating heat in order to keep her trainer warm, and smiled. "A-at least you c-care, Ninetails," she said petting the Fire-type on her head.

"Nineeeee," the Fire-type cooed, rubbing the side of her head against Brooke's hand.

The two continued walking on for about ten minutes. By now, the white beanie Brooke had been wearing was practically infused with snow, and the bottoms of her blue snow pants and brown boots had been soaked. However, beyond the mass amounts of snow-capped trees, there was a gigantic lake with a small cave at the center. More interestingly, the lake was completely clear of ice and the dark blue water had been seemingly reflecting the surroundings.

Brooke and Ninetails stared at the lake in complete awe, mouths wide open

"Wow," Brooke started, still staring at the lake. "It's beautiful." The Fox Pokemon still by her side gave Brooke a sound of agreement. However, the Ninetails took a long glance at the lone cavern and flinched. Brooke noticed this and looked down at her. "What's wrong, Ninetails?" she asked.

The golden fox gave a slight whine and motioned her head towards the cavern. Brooke raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to speak.

"The c-cavern? W-what's wrong with it?" the brunette asked, her lips pursed. The Ninetails shook her head in response, knowing that there would be no way to communicate what it was. "Sometimes I w-wish I could understand you, fully," Brooke said, letting out a sigh. The Ninetails rubbed her head against Brooke's side as some way to comfort her.

Brooke bent down and began to pet the Ninetails with an ear-to-ear grin on her face, despite the snow that had been coming down and the freezing temperatures. If there was one thing that truly made Brooke happy in this world, it was her Pokemon.

As Brooke was petting her Ninetails, though, the Fire-type let out another whine and started to put her paws to her head. Brooke saw this and readied a Pokeball from her belt, slowly rising to her two feet.

"W-who's here?!" she called out, still stuttering due to the cold. "Show yourself!"

There was no response to her calls, and it remained silent. As Brooke took deep, shaky breaths, she could see the vapor in front of her and gripped the Pokeball tightly. She looked down to her Ninetails, who looked increasingly fatigued. Quickly, she returned Ninetails to her Pokeball and clipped it back to her belt. Without her Fire-type by her side, though, it felt like the temperature had dropped ten more degrees.

As Brooke stood still looking around cautiously, though, something seemed off to her. There was no way she could explain it, but something was off. The brunette turned back to the cavern and felt unnatural energy coming from it.

 _There has to be something in there_ , Brooke thought. _Something very, very strong. I haven't felt energy like this since I encountered L-_

"Hmm, Lake Acuity," a voice spoke behind Brooke, interrupting Brooke out of her thoughts. Immediately, the freezing brunette spun around to meet the speaker.

Upon examination, the speaker was a woman, who looked to be past her forties. She had light grey hair, dark blue eyes, and wore a very similar attire to Brooke, except her jacket had been a blue color and she had black snow pants and boots. Brooke took a step back, startled, and gripped her Pokeball even tighter.

"Brooke Winters, there is no reason to have your guard up," the woman said, with a stoic expression. "Since you're from the Kanto region, I was simply explaining to you what this place is."

At her response, Brooke looked at this strange woman with her eyes opened wide, taking one more step back.

"H-how do you know me?" Brooke stuttered out. "And who a-are you?" As she asked these questions, Brooke prepared to release out her Pokemon if needed.

"Oh Ms. Winters," the women spoke once more, with a disturbing laugh, "how could I forget to tell you my name? My name is Amanda Pierce, and I'm a well-known researcher across Sinnoh." Brooke gave her a curious look and Amanda elaborated, "I study the legendary Pokemon, Dialga, the Emperor of Time, and its powers."

Despite Amanda revealing her identity, Brooke still did not drop her guard.

"You s-still didn't tell me h-how you know who I a-am," Brooke pointed out and Amanda laughed once more in response, this once seeming much more strange than the first.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Everyone knows who you are in Sinnoh, Brooke. We take Pokemon battling very seriously here, and of course one of the newest signees to the Sinnoh League isn't going to be unnoticed."

"O-oh," Brooke said. "Well a-anyway, it was good meeting you, Amanda." Brooke clipped her Pokeball back onto the belt on her waist, and prepared to leave. "H-have a good day."

"Wait, I want to tell you about Lake Acuity," Amanda spoke up. "It's a huge piece of Sinnonian mythology, Brooke." As much as Brooke wanted to leave, she had to admit that learning about the Sinnoh region would be beneficial to her.

"I-I think I have time to l-listen," Brooke said and Amanda gave her a smile and nodded her head.

"Good," she started, grabbing Brooke's attention completely. "I'm sure you know about the three lakes of the Sinnoh region, right?" Brooke gave Amanda a nod and she continued. "Well, you see, each lake houses a different legendary Pokemon. Lake Verity houses Mesprit, the Being of Emotion, Lake Valor houses Azelf, the Being of Willpower, and lastly, Lake Acuity, the lake we're at right now, houses Uxie, the Being of Knowledge."

"S-so you're saying t-that a legendary Pokemon lives here?" Brooke asked. She glanced back to the cave and thought to herself. _Well, there is something residing in there, I guess._

"Yeah, and to be exact, Uxie lives in that very cave in the middle of the water," she said, glancing at the cave also. "As she brings knowledge to the people of Sinnoh, she can take it away, too, according to legends. The other two Lake Guardians can also take away their respective gift."

"Y-you seem to know a lot about t-them," Brooke noted, her breath still shaking. "Didn't you s-say that you studied Dialga?"

"Oh yes, don't get me wrong, Brooke, I do. I can probably go on for hours about the magnificence of Dialga," Amanda said, with a laugh. "However, the Lake Trio and Dialga - and the rest of the Creation Trio, for that matter - are closely related. They were both created by Arceus, the creator of our world, itself in order to calm the Creation Trio when enraged," she said. "Interestingly enough, though, all three members of the Lake Trio have crystals that can be used to form the Red Chain, an extremely fascinating item that can control Dialga and Palkia."

Brooke took a step back, a surprised expression on her face.

"H-how is an item like that fascinating?" she asked. "Wouldn't it be dangerous to be able to control a Pokemon that strong?"

Amanda shook her head, catching Brooke off guard.

 _Is she crazy?_ Brooke thought to herself as Amanda opened her mouth to speak. _I wonder what she's going to say now,_ she mused, holding back the urge to chuckle.

"No, it wouldn't be dangerous at all, Brooke," Amanda said, with a stoic expression, as the brunette stared at her with wide eyes.

 _Is she trying to be sarcastic? I genuinely don't know._

"A-are you being serious?" Brooke asked, and Amanda nodded her head in response. "I'm sorry, b-but even as someone who isn't from here, can see how delusional that s-sounds."

Expecting Amanda to be mad at what she said, Brooke was surprised to see her sigh and give her a disappointed look. Shaking her head, Amanda opened her mouth to speak once more.

"I should've expected that you wouldn't be able to see how I view this," Amanda told Brooke, with an equally as disappointed tone. "Even someone as strong as you is blinded by the flaws of society."

Brooke raised an eyebrow in confusion. _What is she going on about now?_ It would be an understatement to say that she creeped Brooke out at first, but now, she was being disturbing.

"I d-don't know what you m-mean by that, Amanda," Brooke started, "but I t-think it's time for me to leave. The c-cold is getting more intolerable by the second."

Not even giving Amanda a chance to respond, Brooke practically sprinted away from Lake Acuity, not even bothering to look back. By the time Brooke had been gone, way past the snow-covered trees, Amanda Pierce shook her head and sighed to herself.

"She would never understand what I'm trying to achieve," she said aloud. "Now that I think about it, I don't think anyone would."

With that, she laughed to herself and turned to the cave where the legendary Pokemon Uxie resided. Smirking to herself in an eerie way, she laughed even more and began walking away from the lake.

 _Nobody will understand our final goal._

* * *

 **Well, there we have it! Chapter two is out of the way! There's a couple of things that I want to break down for you guys, though, before I completely sign off. One thing is that Silver, Tyson, and especially Amanda will all be reoccurring characters and will have an effect on what happens here on out, no matter if their roles are small or large. Another thing is that, while minor, Evergreen City was mentioned. Here's a little side information. Blackthorn City no longer has a gym, for reasons that may or may not be revealed, but people in the Johto region founded a new city with a new gym, to take the spot of the eighth Johto gym. Anyway, though, here are a few questions I'd like you guys to answer.**

 **1: What do you think of Silver being involved in this? I've always enjoyed his chatacter, and I think that he fits perfectly in how this fanfiction is going to shape out.**

 **2: What do you think of the other characters introduced?  
**

 **3: Lastly, what did you think of the small battle scene with Misty and Brett? Possibly gives you a little more knowledge about his character?  
**


	3. Chapter 3 - The Altercation

**Well, here we go! Chapter three is up and running for you guys! It took a little while, compared to the first two chapters, but I promise, it was worth the wait. After looking over many helpful reviews from Warrior of Hope and St. Elmo's Fire, I feel like I made this chapter the best it could be, and I'm extremely confident in it. Regarding plot, though, a lot of eventful things happen this chapter, and I genuinely hope that you all enjoy it! Before I get into this chapter, however, I want to thank you guys for the continued support!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 3 - The Altercation**_

 _Canalave City, Sinnoh_

 _September 5th, 2032_

Canalave City was nothing like the northern part of Sinnoh and Lenny Collins welcomed it. To put it simply, the port city was nice right now, with perfect amounts of wind and sun. Lenny was wearing a blue sweatshirt and black joggers and black shoes that seemed fairly comfortable as he walked through the city, a brownish-red monkey, standing just over five feet tall, with a large red-orange flame, by his side. The Infernape had a content expression on his face, much like his trainer.

Lenny, with a small smile on his face, turned to Infernape and opened his mouth to speak.

"Y'know Infernape, I can't believe that we're going to be officially starting our journey in less than five days," he said, Infernape giving him a nod in response. "After we finish this job for Professor Rowan, we are going to be training hard for next season, especially considering how we ended things off in the Ever Grande Conference."

"Infer," Infernape said lowly, cracking his knuckles. If there was one thing Infernape wanted, it was to win the Lily of the Valley Conference.

The two continued to walk around Canalave City in order to kill time off. They decided not to train for now because they were going to Iron Island, and as Professor Rowan said, it was dangerous and the wild Pokemon tend to be very strong. Considering they were going deep into the cavern, too, they needed all the energy they could have.

Sitting down at a bench by the water, Lenny closed his eyes and rested. Infernape shook his head, following suit by sitting next to him, although he had kept his eyes open.

"This city's very peaceful now, though," Lenny spoke up. "I remember when we used to come up here with Professor Rowan when I was like eight, and it was so busy." Lenny opened his eyes and smiled at the Infernape. "Things have changed a lot since then, I guess," he said with a laugh.

Infernape shared a laugh with Lenny and nodded, with a slight smile on his face.

Lenny closed his eyes once more, keeping his thoughts to himself, as Infernape sat on the bench, staring off into space.

"Infer nape," Infernape said to himself quietly. He looked at Lenny, who still had his eyes closed, and smiled. His trainer meant the world to him, and there was nothing that could change that.

The two sat on the bench in silence, and Infernape decided to close his eyes. They had plenty of time until the ferry for Iron Island arrived. Wind felt nice against their faces and the clouds in the sky were now hiding the sun, so they weren't basking in the sun's rays. The environment they were in was soothing, to say the least, and if they weren't doing something for Professor Rowan, both Lenny and Infernape could fall asleep.

However, peace was interrupted by the sound of another trainer and Pokemon.

"Greninja! Wait up!" a masculine voice cried out, causing Lenny and Infernape to simultaneously open their eyes and groan.

"Gren! Gren!"

From the bench, Lenny could see a dark brown-haired teenager, wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and khakis with black shoes, chase after the Greninja.

Sighing, both Lenny and Infernape got up from the bench and walked in front of where the two were heading. Upon seeing them, however, the Greninja and his trainer stopped in their tracks. The trainer, however, seemed a lot more angry than the Greninja.

"Hey!" he called out. "You stopped our traini- oh shit, you're Lenny Collins, right?"

"Yeah," Lenny answered, with a head nod. "Who ar- wait, you're Michael Owens from the league meeting, right?" With a head nod from Michael, both trainers stuck out their hands at the same time and shook them. "It's good meeting you outside of such a formal place, y'know."

Michael gave Lenny a smirk. As the two Sinnoh League signees interacted with each other, both Michael's Greninja and Lenny's Infernape gave each other nods in respect.

"Likewise," he responded. "Anyway, how are you doing? It's been a few days since the meeting, and even then, we didn't really get to introduce ourselves properly."

"I've been doing alright, lately," Lenny said. "Haven't really gotten around to training yet because Professor Rowan sent me out on a job for him, and the thunderstorm in Jubilife didn't help too much either."

"Oh, that thunderstorm slowed me down quite a bit yesterday as well," Michael admitted. "And I'm with you as well. I haven't really been training as much as I should." Michael took a glance at his Greninja and smirked. "But that's why we're going to Iron Island! I figured that there would be a lot of Steel-types there, and considering I'm going to challenge Byron's gym, it'll be a lot of help."

Lenny gave Michael a surprised look, causing the later to give him a confused one.

"Really?" Lenny asked rhetorically, before Michael responded with a head nod. "That's funny because Infernape" - he pointed to him - "and I were going there for Professor Rowan."

"It's a small world, am I right?" Michael asked with a laugh. However, he then have Lenny a curious glance. "I am curious, though. You and the professor seemed very, very close. Is he a relative or something?"

Lenny shook his head before responding.

"No, not quite," he started, "but I guess you can say that he's been almost like a grandfather and a role model to me for the longest time. My parents were also researchers for him, so there's that also."

"That's nice to hear," Michael commented. "It must be good for you, though, being closely acquainted to such a large and influential figure in Sinnoh and all."

"Yeah, it is. I wouldn't know what I would do without the old man in my life," Lenny said, with a laugh. "In all seriousness, though, he's also really the main reason why Infernape and I are as close as we are."

"Really now?" Michael asked curiously.

"Infernape!" the Infernape said with a smile, jumping in on their sudden conversation.

Both trainers laughed at the Infernape's antics before Lenny continued on.

"Oh yeah definitely, Michael," he said, nodding. "Ever since I was like eight-years-old, I would hang out with Infernape, who was a Chimchar back then obviously, when my parents went out and did something for the professor, and we just bonded extremely well, I guess." Lenny glanced at the Infernape, who had been smirking ear-to-ear the whole time, and gave him a smirk of his own. "I don't know what would life be like if I hadn't met him. Infernape is like a brother to me."

"I could say the same about Greninja, Lenny," Michael said, looking at the Water-type, who was listening to the conversation closely. "When I was picking my starter in the Kalos region, Greninja had been so attached to me that I couldn't just not pick him. Ever since that moment, our bond has been unbreakable, and I would honestly do anything for him," he finished off, nodding at the frog-like Pokemon.

"Gren! Ninja!" the Greninja exclaimed in response, confirming what Michael had said.

"Glad we're in similar boats, Michael," Lenny said. "At least there's someone else who treats their Pokemon with a lot of respect."

The two had continued conversing for roughly ten more minutes. Despite only seeing each other once before this, the two had seemed to click well together and got along nice. Even though they were competing against each other in the Sinnoh League, Michael and Lenny seemed like they wouldn't mind being friends or at the least good acquaintances. Even Infernape and Greninja got along, too, having their own conversation off to the side.

Before they realized, though, the ferry came rushing through incredibly loud and the drawbridge rose up even louder. Michael and Lenny turned to see the boat come at a stop and a voice over a loudspeaker start talking.

" **Anyone using the ferry to Iron Island may get on now,"** the voice said. **"I repeat, anyone using the ferry to Iron Island may get on!"**

"Well, that's us," Lenny said, getting up from the bench both of then sat at.

With that, the four - Michael, Lenny, Greninja, and Infernape - walked over to the ferry, which was stopped in the water. The only people getting on the ferry were other trainers, looking to train before the season started, and a few workers. Once on the ferry, Michael turned to Lenny and eyed him with an inquisitive look.

"So," he began, causing Lenny to turn towards him, "why did Professor Rowan send you to Iron Island of all places. From what I remember, there isn't really much there, besides strong wild Pokemon."

Lenny shrugged at Michael's question.

"You'd be surprised, Michael," Lenny stated, grabbing his attention. "There's a lot more there than what meets the eye."

"What do you mean by that?" Michael asked simply, with a head tilt and eyebrow raise.

"I'm not really sure if this is classified information or not, but I figure Professor Rowan wouldn't mind if I told you," Lenny started, grabbing Michael's attention even more. Now, he was curious and wanted to know what was happening. "To sum it up," he started in a slight whisper, "the Adamant Orb, the Timespace Orb representing Dialga, has been acting weird and it's located in the depths of that cave, and the professor fears that someone or something may be tampering with it."

"I thought those were protected at the Spear Pillar in order to prevent anything like the Galactic scenario from happening again?" Michael asked, a somewhat shocked look on his face. If there was anything he'd expect Lenny to tell him, that would be the last.

"They were at first," Lenny revealed. "But apparently, they returned to their original spots after some time, and the professor was assigned a job to monitor them," he said, remembering all the times they looked at the Timespace Orbs when Lenny was younger.

"Oh wow," was all Michael could say. "Y'know, out of all the things that you could've told me, that was the last thing I expected."

Lenny laughed sheepishly before opening his mouth to speak.

"Well, you seem trustworthy, to be completely honest," Lenny added, with a slight shrug. "Plus, I'm sure it's nothing major either. I don't think there's any new evil organizations, running wild around Sinnoh."

"There probably isn't, but what if there is?" Michael suddenly asked. "It probably is uncommon for the orb to start acting up out of nowhere, too, so there has to be _somebody_ there, right?"

"Nonsense," Lenny said, shaking his head. "If there was evil in Sinnoh, Cynthia and the rest of the League would've stopped them. After Galactic fell, crime here has been at an all-time low, you do realize?"

It was Michael's turn to shake his head, catching Lenny off guard.

"I realize that, but do you realize how long it took for the League to realize there was actually something going on? Maybe they're just keeping it lowkey now? While going after the Timespace orbs will be a bold move, they aren't really doing much else, right?" Michael asked rhetorically, but Lenny didn't say anything in response. "All I'm saying is that if there was evil in Sinnoh, they would be keeping their actions on the low, especially considering what Galactic did and how close they were to succeeding," he finished before sighing. "Listen, I'm not saying I'm right or anything. All I'm saying is that there could potentially be some evil down there."

There was an awkward silence between Michael and Lenny, with Lenny simply staring off at the vast sea the ferry was traveling on and Michael giving Lenny a confused look. Their Pokemon weren't really doing much besides listening in on their conversation.

However, Lenny finally let out a sigh.

"Maybe you're right, Michael," he said, still looking off at the sea, before turning to him. "I don't know, but maybe there is someone down there. My original theory was that it was probably some Psychic Pokemon, but after considering it, what Psychic Pokemon live in Iron Island?"

Michael nodded his head.

"Exactly," he said, staring off into the sea also. After a few seconds, though, he turned back to Lenny and said, "What if I come down there with you just in case there is somebody down there?"

Lenny considered it for a few seconds. He turned to Infernape, who was standing besides him, and he gave him a nod.

"That's fine," Lenny said. "Maybe after we can have a three on three battle or something after, before the season starts, y'know? We both haven't really been training too much, so I think it's fair."

Michael nodded with a slight smirk on his face. Turning to his Greninja, he had an equally as excited look on his face.

"I like the sound of that, Lenny," he said in response. "When we get back to Canalave, we'll have it at the Pokemon Center's field, alright?"

"Fair enough," Lenny responded with a smirk of his. "Listen, though, with all due respect, I'm gonna come out on top."

Michael and Greninja both rolled their eyes almost simultaneously.

"We'll see about that one, Lenny," he said. "I can promise that you'll be in for a difficult match, though."

Both Michael and Lenny were now in a conversation about who would win this upcoming match as the boat continued through the cold saltwater, causing a loud roaring sound. In the distance three islands were present, the one closest to the ferry being the largest. This island had a mountain that almost blocked the white clouds in the blue sky. The other two islands had been much smaller, one with a lot of dark trees - some missing most of their leaves - most likely providing a lot of shade, and the other seeming much more open, although it had its fair share of trees.

Michael, Greninja, Lenny, and Infernape all had turned to face the massive mountain ahead of them in utter awe, their mouths gaping wide open. What surprised them even more had been the sheer amount of boats that were crowded around the apparent hub in the form of Iron Island.

 _Jesus Christ,_ Lenny cursed in his thoughts, still staring awestruck at the outside of the cavern. _If it's this big on the outside, I wonder how big it is on the in-_

"Lenny," Michael interrupted, turning to him, "I always knew that Iron Island was large, but actually seeing it in person, it's gigantic." Michael turned back to Iron Island, eyeing it curiously. "Considering how big it is, how are we supposed to find the Adamant Orb?" he asked in a low whisper.

"Honestly, I think we're going to be spending a lot of time here, Michael."

Michael groaned in response, and Lenny let out a sigh at his antics. Both Infernape and Greninja both shook their heads at Michael, causing him to let out a sigh of his own. Lenny noticed the Pokemon do that, and a small laugh was drawn out of him before he started to speak.

"You do realize this was your choice - to come with me, that is - right?"

Silently, Michael nodded his head. He looked forward at the sky-piercing cave and merely shrugged. Michael eyed the mountain and scanned it from top to bottom. Almost surprisingly, he put a small smirk on his face.

 _Well, at least we get to train later_ , Michael thought to himself, glancing at Greninja through the corner of his eyes. However, Michael turned back to Iron Island and sighed once more. _Still, though, why did I decide to come here in the first place?_

For the rest of the ferry ride, Lenny and Michael had been in silence. They did not know what to expect once on Iron Island, but all they knew was that they had to locate the Adamant Orb somewhere in the colossal labyrinth.

 _Here we go…_

 _ **X.x.X**_

 _Iron Island, Sinnoh_

 _September 5th, 2032_

"Excadrill, keep digging down!" a deep voice boomed across the caves of Iron Island. "You have to go further!"

The speaker was a large, built older man with reddish-brown hair that had been unkept and spiked all over the place and black eyes. On top of that, he had a thick beard the same reddish-brown color as his hair. He, holding a rusty shovel, had also worn a simple white tank top that appeared to be drenched in sweat, beige cargo pants, and brown works boots; he also had a whistle over neck. As he watched the Excadrill work, though, there was an unimpressed look planted on his face.

"You can go harder, Excadrill," he said with a displeased tone behind his voice. "I want you to use Drill Run and keep drilling down farther."

As Excadrill followed through with the commands almost immediately, his claws and razor-sharp horn glowing a light brown, Byron, the Canalave gym leader, stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, an unimpressed look planted on his face.

Being the sixth gym leader of the Sinnoh League, Bryon couldn't be a pushover. He trained his Pokemon to be exceptionally strong in defense, offense, and their respective skills. For Excadrill, this had been the durability and strength of his drilling ability, and the duo had been working on this for the past two hours now. Despite his old age, Byron wasn't afraid to give his Pokemon one-hundred percent and he expected the same in return.

"Excadrill," Byron started. Despite him beginning to speak, the Excadrill kept drilling as fast as he could. "I only do this to you because I want you to be the best you can be, and the only way you can be the best is by working hard."

Byron looked at the five other Pokemon currently around him. There had been a Steelix, who barely had her head surfaced above the ground. The Steelix looked to be exhausted as she took deep breaths before diving back into the large, gaping hole. Another Pokemon had been a Lucario, and he was seated off to the side with his eyes closed tight. The jackal had been radiating a dark blue energy and looked to be incredibly calm. Against the wall, which had multiple, deep holes in it, was a gassed Aggron that had a band on his left arm, with a white, grey, amd silver stone, whose rock hands had been bruised up. Off in the middle of the room, though, a Bisharp, with his head glowing a shining silver and both of his blades a dark black color, had been charging at a massive navy blue, penguin-resembling Pokemon. In response, she shot a stream of scalding water, which sent the Bisharp backwards. Upon this, the Empoleon had let out a loud cry in triumph.

As all of this had been going on, a slight smirk could've been seen on Byron's face. What he said to Excadrill had been true. He expected his Pokemon to work past their limits, and even in the depths of Iron Island, there was no exception.

Byron watched this continue on for roughly another thirty minutes, the look on his face being completely serious. Every single day, this was apart of Byron's daily training ritual. Being his strongest team, he trained these six Pokemon incredibly hard. The day started with thirty minute warm ups, which they had already done, and now they were on the next part: their individual training.

Suddenly, though, Byron blew the whistle as loud as he could, and all six Pokemon stopped what they were doing, each turning their attention to him. His arms crossed, he eyed down all of his Pokemon, who were around him in an awkward circle.

"Well," he began, "to begin with, I would like to announce that I am very proud of all six of you, considering how hard you all have been working these past few months. As your trainer, it makes me incredibly happy to see how much you have all improved since the end of last season, despite how hard I may seem to push you guys." As Byron spoke, he had a smile of pure admiration on his face and began to tear up a little, causing him to wipe away at his eyes almost directly after. "The new season starts in five days, and I truthfully believe that we are ready to take things to the next level. Ever since Volkner had gotten moved to the Elite Four, we have been statistically the hardest team to beat" - he glanced at each of his six Pokemon individually and nodded at them - "with only thirty percent of trainers being able to defeat us in the past four years. Considering this, I believe at the end of this season we can be eligible for the Elite Four test, and I am confident that we can pass it.

"You guys are my family, and if there was any team on this planet that I think is ready for this, I confidently believe it's ours," he proclaimed with a proud smile on his face. At this revelation, his entire team had let out cheers, with Steelix being the loudest, letting out a roar that seemingly shook the whole cave system. However, Byron wasn't finished off yet. "I'm sure you guys have heard, though, that this season is supposedly the hardest season we've had since Cynthia challenged the gym circuit. The top twenty seeds in the Sinnoh League were all at least semi-finalists in last year's regional conference, no matter where they competed. The projected number one seed also made it to Ash in the Radiant Chamber, losing in a 3-0 battle." All of his Pokemon, especially his Bisharp, gave him looks of disbelief. "The number two and three seeds have also made it to at least the third Elite Four member, with the number two seed giving Iris a run for her money in Unova and the number three seed only losing to Misty by one Pokemon in Kanto," Byron continued, taking a deep breath.

"That's why, this season, we can't let up for one, single second." Judging by the looks on their faces, Byron's entire team liked the direction this talk had been going. "If we want a chance at an Elite Four spot, we need to give every single battle, whether it'd be against a trainer getting his first badge or the number one seed in the Sinnoh League, one-hundred perce-"

"Hey Byron!"

Byron turned to the sound of the voice and saw four figures looking at him, two humans, an Infernape, and a Greninja. Upon seeing them, he smirked, while the two stared at his team in shock.

 _Michael Owens, former finalists of the Lumiose Conference,_ he thought, _and Lenny Collins, a semi-finalist of the Lily of the Valley Conference._

"Michael and Lenny, right?" Byron asked, approaching the two. When they gave him a curious look, he continued, "You guys are probably wondering how I know your names, right?"

"Yeah, I'd like to know," Lenny said, with a curious tone of voice. "Are we seriously this popular in the Sinnoh region, Byron?"

Byron simply nodded his head in response with a laugh as his team looked on in confusion. He turned to his team and told them to run off, but to be back in about two hours. Five out of the six Pokemon immediately obeyed and ran off - in Steelix's case, dug - with only Lucario staying behind. Byron turned to Lucario, who had just nodded, and he didn't mind. Byron turned his attention to Lenny and Michael once more.

"You just sent your Pokemon off to do whatever?"

Byron looked confused by Michael's question.

"It's not like they're going to run off, Michael," Byron told him, laughing. "When you're as old as me, you tend to develop bonds with your Pokemon that go beyond the Pokeball. Those six" - he motioned to his Lucario - "are my family, and I would die for them and vice-versa. I allow them to do as they please, and I trust that they wouldn't run away."

 _Wow,_ was all Lenny could think of as Byron went on about the bond between him and his Pokemon. He looked to his Infernape, who was just as engrossed in the conversation. _As close as our bonds are, I don't think I could have Infernape just wander off or even any of my other Pokemon._

"I understand, Byron," Michael said. Before he went to continue, Byron's Lucario pulled Infernape and Greninja off to the side, and the three started having their own conversation. Not even paying attention to that, however, Michael continued. "By any chance, though, do you know about the Adamant Or-"

Byron's eyes opened wide at what Michael had been starting to say. He grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close to his face, an angry look in his eyes. Byron looked to be ready to scream in Michael's face. Lenny, though, watched on completely taken aback at what was happening. Lucario, shaking his head, noticed this, however, and walked over to Byron. The Lucario pulled Byron off Michael and shook his head at his trainer even more.

Byron soon nodded his head in understanding and said something to Lucario before he went back over to Greninja, who was about to attack Byron, and Infernape. Byron turned back to Michael and bowed his head apologizing.

"I'm sorry for my outburst there, Michael," Byron said, with a sincere look. "It's just that the Timespace Orbs are a very sensitive thing to talk about in Sinnoh after the whole Galactic scenario all those years back."

Michael didn't even say anything in response as he avoided eye contact with Byron, so Lenny stepped forward to speak.

"Before I continue for him," Lenny started, "why did you stop? Lucario just came here an-"

"He told me that Michael wasn't a threat, using aura," Byron explained. "I'm assuming you're familiar with aura, so I'm going to go straight to the point. Any Lucario, with enough training and a close bond to their trainer, is capable of communicating telepathically with aura manipulation-simple as that."

"Oh," was all Lenny said. "That's incredible, Byron. I didn't know aura allowed them to communicate telepathically. Professor Rowan never told me that." Byron didn't say anything as Lenny continued on. "Speaking of Professor Rowan, though, he's actually the main reason why we're here. As you may or may not know, he was placed in charge of monitoring the Timespace Orbs energy production rate, and to put it simply, he's saying that each Orbs' rate of energy is increasing drastically, so he had assigned me to check on it."

"Then why is Michael here?"

Lenny simply shrugged in response before speaking.

"We passed by each other in Canalave, and Michael had said that he was going to Iron Island to train. I figured that it would be safer to have another strong trainer with me, just in case something was up."

Byron nodded his head. "Well if you guys need, Lucario and I can show you where the Adamant Orb is located," he said, motioning for Lucario to walk over. Infernape and Greninja also followed suit and stood by their trainers before Byron continued on. "The Adamant Orb is fairly close to where w-"

Byron suddenly stopped talking all of a sudden and he stood there completely unmoving, almost like he was frozen. Byron hadn't blinked once since he stopped talking and stood in the same position he had been in. Michael, Lenny, and the three Pokemon all looked at him in confusion.

"Byron?" Michael asked, finally saying something, as he waved his hand in front of his face. "Hello?"

Byron didn't even respond to Michael, who looked freaked out at this point. To everyone in the area, it seemed like Byron was frozen in time, almost like a statue. However, Lucario suddenly made a sound of realization, causing everyone to turn towards him.

"Lu! Lu! Lucario!" he cried out, his hands waving with a blue aura. Crying out once more, he turned and started to sprint off farther in the cave.

"Let's follow him!" Lenny yelled suddenly, sprinting after Lucario.

"Infer! Infernape!" the Infernape exclaimed as well, running after Lenny and the leading Lucario.

"Well, I guess we have no choice." Michael turned to his Greninja but was surprised to see that he was already running off in the other's direction. _I guess I have no choice then_ , Michael thought to himself, sprinting after the others in order to catch up, leaving the frozen Byron by himself.

Continuing down Iron Island's cavern, however, both Michael and Lenny were wondering the exact same thing.

 _What the hell is happening?_

 **X.x.X**

 _Iron Ruins, Sinnoh_

 _September 5th, 2032_

"Lenny, do you feel that?"

Lenny, Michael, Greninja, and Infernape had been following Byron's Lucario for the past ten minutes when they wandered upon a large door towards the bottom of Iron Island's cavern. The door had been a dark gray color and felt cold to the touch. The door was made out of a pure metal, and in the center of the door, there had been a massive hole, almost like someone had broken in.

"Yeah..."

Lenny and Michael stared at the hole in the door and had been feeling a weird energy being exerted from it. They didn't know how to describe it, but it made them feel extremely uncomfortable and sent chills through their spine.

"Do you think… the Adamant Orb is down the-"

Before Michael could even finish what he was saying, Byron's Lucario, Michael's Greninja, and Lenny's Infernape walked through the hole in the wall. Lenny and Michael turned to each other and nodded, following suit.

As they all walked farther down, the weird energy intensified, and it felt like it was getting harder to breathe, with Lenny and Michael taking deep breaths. The Pokemon, however, seemed fine as they continued marching down, not looking back. The temperature had also seemed to drop drastically. The farther they walked down, the colder they felt. Their deep breaths were noticeable due to the cold temperatures.

"I can't help but have a bad feeling about this, Michael," Lenny said, turning to him. "This is way too sketchy, especially with what happened to Byron back there."

Michael didn't even respond immediately.

 _If there is… something farther down, am I even strong enough to face it?_

"I have to agree with you," Michael responded grimly, looking forwards. He saw the three Pokemon continuing on in an almost fearless manner. "But if they're able to continue on, we have to as well. We have to be strong for our Pokemon."

Similarly to Michael's actions earlier, Lenny didn't say anything but looked at the ground and sighed. He brought his gaze up and stared at the three Pokemon-specifically, his Infernape, who didn't even look back.

"Y'know, I'm starting to think that there may be something going on," Lenny said. "Pokemon are very good at sensing danger, so I can see them going towards it."

"I guess so."

They all continued walking forwards, but stopped as soon as they came to a crossroads, with a path leading in every direction. Lucario, still leading, closed his eyes and put his hand out, blue aura pulsing around it. He remained like that for about ten seconds before throwing his hand down and opening his eyes.

"Lu."

Byron's Lucario turned to the left and began sprinting down the passageway, everyone else following once more.

The path they were going down wasn't as long as the one before as there was another door before them. This one had been completely destroyed and blown down, revealing an open space. The walls were mostly made of rocks, with iron plates randomly scattered across. In the room there were broken down pillars. At the other side, a statue was present, resembling one of the Legendary Golems, Registeel.

In the center of the room, though, was a large pillar, with a shiny blue orb made entirely out of pure diamonds. Around the orb, however, were two men, one dressed in a brown trench coat, brown hat, black pants, and shoes, the other dressed in a black leather jacket, fingerless gloves, dark blue jeans, and brown shoes. The man in the trench coat had grey eyes and the man in the leather jacket had blue eyes. The two men had various machines scattered around the orb, but they didn't have anyone operating them. The machines seemed to monitor the orb and each had sensors attached to them.

The room itself, though, was incredibly cold and even more difficult to breathe in. Due to Michael and Lenny's heavy breathing, however, one of the men-the one dressed in the trench coat-noticed them and began to speak.

"You may be wondering what we're doing in a place as… sacred as the Iron Ruins," he started. "You may also be wondering what we're doing to this legendary artifact, the Adamant Orb." Lenny and Michael didn't say anything, but stop the three Pokemon from charging forwards. "I will entertain you by telling you what you may kr may not be wondering, though."

Lenny and Michael couldn't help but be extremely creeped out by the men in front of them.

 _What th-_

"My name is Ajax and this" - he motioned to the person besides him - "is my brother Z."

Z turned around and stared at Michael and Lenny with a deranged look in his eyes. Not saying anything, though, he started to laugh in an almost maniacal manner, completely uncontrollably. Sitting down on the ground, crossing his legs, he started to speak.

"Michael Owens and Lenny Collins," he greeted with a crazed laugh. "It's such a PLEASURE to meet the Sinnoh League's newest signees! You guys must be AMAZING trainers!"

Lenny and Michael both took a step back, completely taken off guard.

"W-who the fuck are you?" Lenny asked, his voice shaky. "And what the hell is your problem?"

Ajax shook his head at Lenny's questions.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't use such foul and frowned upon language. It is extremely unprofessional and uncalled for, Mr. Collins," Ajax said in a disappointed tone before looking down at Z. "Please, though, don't mind Z. He gets excited easily."

At Ajax's comments, Z, still sitting down, had begun laugh even more crazed as before, spit drooling from his mouth. The longer Michael and Lenny were in the room with this Z character, the more creeped out they were.

"HA!" he suddenly exclaimed. "Why don't we just freeze them here Ajax? Wouldn't that be sooooo INCREDIBLY funnnnnn?" Ajax shook his head at Z's comments. "What? Is it too EVIL for our standards?"

"No, it's not too evil, Z," Ajax said. "We definitely could just freeze them here, like we did with that pesky gym leader, and leave with the Adamant Orb since we're already finished with our research, but that wouldn't be any fair.

"The Cult of Time is an organization based on integrity and fairness, even if you refuse to accept that," Ajax continued, bringing an overly exaggerated frown to Z's face.

"EXACTLY!" he exclaimed, clasping his face. "That's the problem! We need to finish the mission QUICKLY and EFFICIENTLY in order to succeed!"

Ajax shook his head once more.

As the duo continued arguing, Michael and Lenny glanced at each other and nodded.

"We have to destroy the machines," Lenny suddenly whispered to Michael. "I'm assuming that's where they're keeping their resea-"

"THE MACHINES, AJAX! THESE BUFFOONS ARE ATTACKING THE MACHINES!" Z cried out, his voice echoing. Taking a Pokeball out of his coat pocket, he screamed, "We have to stop them!" As he threw the Pokeball, a large Houndoom appeared from the blue light. "GET THEM HOUNDOOM! SHOW NO MERCY!"

Sighing, Ajax followed suit, tossing a Pokeball in an almost nonchalant manner. From the Pokeball, a Gallade took form.

"You know what to do Gallade."

The two Pokemon charged forward, with the Houndoom's mouth spewing searing hot flames and the Gallade's blades glowing a dark purple color. Infernape and Greninja stood back, glancing at their trainers, as Lucario charged at the two Pokemon almost fearlessly with his fists glowing brown.

"FLAMETHROWER!" Z yelled suddenly. "BURN THE JACKAL TO A CRISP!"

"Gallade, use Psycho Cut after," Ajax commanded in a calm tone.

The two Pokemon obeyed immediately with Houndoom firing off a large stream of fire that completely engulfed Lucario and ran into the rock wall, effectively searing it. In the fire, a silhouette of Lucario could be seen, and he slowly dropped to his knees. Once the fire dispersed, however, Lucario had burn marks all over his body. Gallade took advantage of this and sprinted towards Lucario, at lightning speeds, and struck him in the sides and head with his purple-glowing blades, sending him flying into the rock wall and also out of commission.

"Oh shit," Michael called out as Greninja got into an offensive stance. "They took out one of Byron's strongest Pokemon with two hits."

"I know," Lenny said simply with Infernape following Greninja, getting into a stance of his own. "We can't let that get to u-"

"No matter how strong a Pokemon is, without a trainer's strength, they will always fall quick," Ajax said. "Let's see how quickly yours fall, though! Thunder Punch on Greninja, Gallade!"

"Intercept with a Flare Blitz, Infernape!"

"JUMP IN FRONT, HOUNDOOM!"

"Get ready, Greninja! Scatter with Double Team and then use a Night Slash barrage!"

The four Pokemon instantly followed their trainer's commands. First, the Gallade rushed towards Greninja, with his green blades coursed over in electricity. Immediately after, however, Infernape encapsulated himself in raging flames and sprinted on all fours to Gallade. Houndoom, though, ran in front, completely absorbing and dismissing the Flare Blitz, letting out a loud howl. Since the attack was negated, Gallade closed the distance between him and Greninja and swung his blades, but only hit a copy. In seconds, Gallade was swarmed by copies of Greninja, each glowing a black color, with their hands glowing with dark energy. The copies ran towards Gallade and each attacked him with their own barrage of Night Slashes.

"Find the real copy and use Close Combat!" Ajax called out.

"While they're busy, Infernape, use Mach Punch on the Houndoom and follow up with a Close Combat of your own!"

Gallade closed his eyes but couldn't find the real Greninja, and he couldn't help but continue to get pelted by Night Slashes. As this was going on, though, Infernape, with a dark brown fist, rushed, Houndoom, who had been spacing himself after taking the Flare Blitz. Immediately, he nailed Houndoom in the ribs, sending him backwards and to the ground, but he pursued. Grounded, Houndoom couldn't do much but take the fury-induced kicks and punches from Infernape, dealing huge damage.

"Fuck! Gallade, use Drain Punch on the copies!"

"Houndoom! Put him in an INFERNO!"

Michael opened his eyes wide. "Greninja get out of there!"

As the Gallade was destroying the Greninja's copies, the real Greninja jumped out of there quite literally, still completely pitch black. Simultaneously, Houndoom put a smirk on his face as he took the Close Combat and let out another howl before glowing a dark orange color. He emitted a cyclone of pure fire, completely enclosing him and Infernape, who let out a cry in pain as he couldn't escape.

"Greninja, get in there again! Shadow Sneak then Dark Pulse point-blank!"

"Infernape, bring electric to the fire! Thunder Punch!"

Greninja, glowing a dark purple, faded into the shadows. Gallade looked around for Greninja, who had went completely invisible. Seconds later, though, Greninja literally came out of the ground and struck Gallade in the stomach, causing him to bend over. Now turning pitch black, Greninja fired off a beam of pure black energy, sending Gallade backwards. At the same time, the Inferno attack was now coursing over with electricity and the Houndoom was sent flying out of it, static all over him. The Inferno attack died down and in the aftermath of it, Infernape stood there, almost completely unfazed, besides a few burn marks.

"Acrobatics, Infernape!"

Limbs glowing a light blue, Infernape jumped towards the Houndoom, who was barely standing, and pounced on him, delivering a multitude of kicks and punches once more, although this wasn't doing much damage, unlike the Close Combat blows from earlier. Seeing how Infernape had the Houndoom pinned to the ground, Lenny placed a smirk on his face, despite the dire situation they were in, and gave another command.

"Double Mach Punch him through the ground!"

In an instant, Infernape buried both of his fists into Houndoom's side, in a hammer fist motion. In response, however, the Houndoom bit down on Infernape's arms.

"HAHAHA!" Z laughed. "Now while you have the chance, Thunder Fang!"

Houndoom bit down on Infernape's arms even harder, with electricity surging in his sharp teeth. Infernape let out a cry in pain as he was shocked all over by the Houndoom. Seeing this, however, Michael decided he needed to step in.

 _It's a team effort,_ he thought.

"Greninja! Water Shuriken on the Houndoom!"

Nodding at his trainer, Greninja, with the Gallade not getting up yet and Ajax screaming at Gallade also, turned around and began to glow a dark blue color. He formed a shuriken made of light blue water in his hands and launched it at Houndoom. He repeated this process about four times and Houndoom was pelted by the Water Shurikens, sending him flying into the ground, bringing up a cloud of dust.

"HOUNDOOM!" Z cried out when Houndoom hadn't gotten up after the dust died out.

"Leaf Blade!" Ajax shouted as soon as the Gallade got up to two feet.

At breakneck speeds, Gallade sprinted at Greninja with both of his blades glowing a leaf green color and sliced a turned Greninja down the back, sending him into the ground. With a smirk, Gallade prepared to strike a finishing blow, but Lenny prevented this from happening.

"Thunder Blitz!"

Unlike the Flare Blitz earlier, Infernape sprinted at Gallade on all fours, still covered in fire, but his fists were emitting electricity. This had caused the fire to develop a coat of electricity to it and Gallade or Ajax didn't even see the attack coming, due to its surprising speeds. Infernape basically crashed into Gallade, sending him crashing into the rock wall, much like what happened to Lucario earlier.

After a few seconds, it was clear that neither Houndoom or Gallade were getting up. Infernape and Greninja, both bent over breathing extremely heavy, let out a sigh of relief and looked at each other, nodding their heads at each other in respect.

Lenny and Michael glanced at each other with a smirk, while Ajax and Z recalled their Pokemon. Furthermore, Ajax shook his head in a disappointed manner as Z dramatically dropped to his knees.

"You know," Ajax started, "I should've expected to lose that, bu-"

" **WHY?! WHY DID WE LO-"**

"Relax Z, we didn't lose just yet! We still have our final trump card!" Ajax proclaimed with an evil smirk on his face, grabbing another Pokeball from his belt.

"What are you guys going to do now?" Lenny asked, getting ready to call out another Pokemon. "We already beat you. What else do you have to off-"

"Darkrai, end them!"

As Ajax threw a black and grey Pokeball, Michael and Lenny tensed up, with their eyes wide opened. Additionally, Greninja and Infernape, despite their exhaustion, got into defensive stances, preparing for anything to happen. When the Pokeball opened, as Ajax promised, a Darkrai materialized out of black energy.

"Holy shit," both of them muttered as they stood in the presence of the mythical Pokemon.

"Dark…" it muttered quietly, causing Infernape and Greninja to tremble. If there was one Pokemon they planned on facing, it wasn't a Darkrai. "...RAIII!"

Not even needing a command, it summoned an orb of black energy that had equally as dark electricity surging around it. As it prepared the Dark Void attack, it had a pained look on its face, making Darkrai seem like it was struggling.

"Michael." Lenny suddenly turned to him, with a sigh. Michael looked at him, and Lenny continued, "Thank you for helping me."

Michael didn't say anything, but nod as they both turned to face Darkrai, who summoned a Dark Void about the size of a basketball. Darkrai glanced back at Ajax, who nodded with an ear-to-ear smirk on his face, and fired the Dark Void. Once it fired the Dark Void, both Lenny and Michael closed their eyes knowing what was going to happen. Greninja and Infernape tried running away, but the Dark Void exploded and began to spread in every direction, covering Michael, Lenny, Greninja, and Infernape like a blanket of nightmares. When the darkness subsided, all four of them were asleep on the ground, twisting and turning restlessly.

After, Z had turned to Ajax and laughed maniacally.

"BAHAHAHAHA!" Z cried out, drawing Ajax to shake his head. "Y'know, you could've done that to begin with! HA!"

"I wanted to have some fun, but they were a lot stronger than I had originally anticipated," Ajax admitted, shrugging, before turning to the Darkrai once more.

"Darkrai!" he cried out, Darkrai turning around to face him. "I command you to put anyone who walks through that door into an eternal nightmare!"

"D-Darr," Darkrai responded, voice shaking, as it turned to face the entranceway.

Ajax and Z now turned to the Adamant Orb besides them, with evil smirks on their faces. Ajax walked forward and cupped the Adamant Orb in his hands, hoisting it into the air as if it was his prized possession.

"FINALLY!" Z yelled, running over to Ajax. "Now Mr. Stark will welcome us back in open arms! For the Cult!"

Ajax shook his head at his brothers excitement as he stared at the Timespace Orb, the smirk still present on his face.

"Lord Dialga, we shall soon welcome you into our world," Ajax said, dropping to one knee. "We shall free you from your confinement in the realm of time and free the world from the plagues that cloud its beauty!" Hoisting the Adamant Orb even higher, much like Z earlier, he yelled, "For the Cult!"

 **X.x.X**

 _Pokemon League Facility, Kalos_

 _September 6th, 2032_

"You know, Ash? I've been wondering a little. What do you think about the Sinnoh League this year?"

"Honestly Serena, I really don't know," Ash Ketchum said from his desk, a Pikachu sitting on his right shoulder.

Ash and Serena were seated in an office somewhere in the Pokemon League. They were seated at an expensive-looking desk with many papers piled onto it. Likewise, there was also a picture of Ash and Serena, who were both dressed in a tuxedo and white wedding dress respectively. There was another picture of Ash, with Pikachu on his shoulder, holding Serena, who had a small baby in her arms. Across the room there was various pictures of Ash and his companions throughout his journey as well as his badges framed up on the wall.

"I know that there is a lot of great competitors that we could've used in the Kalos League, but I'm glad Cynthia and the rest of Sinnoh has such an amazing roster this year. They have a great season ahead of them." Ash glanced to Pikachu, who was actively engaged in their conversation. "Right Pikachu?"

"Pika pika!" he exclaimed, taking the signature hat of Ash's head.

Serena, who had been sitting across from Ash, laughed at Pikachu's antics before responding.

"What about Michael? He got signed to the Sinnoh League, right?"

Ash nodded his head and smiled with a happy look on his face.

"Yeah, he ended up getting signed to Sinnoh," Ash said, shrugging. "It would have been nice to have him under Kalos again, but I was a trainer before. I know what it's like to want to travel worldwide, and I've been there before, in his exact same position."

"Pika!" Ash's Pikachu agreed, nodding his head.

Serena nodded her head knowingly. In his younger years, Ash had traveled around the world and became one of the most famous trainers of all time, with his equally as famous goal of becoming a Pokemon Master never leaving his mind.

"I know, I know, Ash, but I miss having him around Kalos," Serena admitted, with a sigh. "I honestly hope he's doing well, though. He was so upset after his loss in the finals."

"I understand that Serena, especially considering that this coming from someone who's been in that exact same position," Ash said, simultaneously thinking back to his loss to Alain almost two decades ago. "I really do miss him here, though, as well. I'm not gonna lie, I sorta see a younger version of myself in him."

Pikachu looked at Ash and nodded his head. "Pika pikachu," he said, laughing.

Serena nodded her head once more, agreeing with Ash.

"I can see it," Serena noted. "Losing in the finals aside, his adventure here is very similar to your Kalos journey all those years ago." Serena subliminally smiled, thinking back to those times.

"I can see some parallels," Ash admitted, shrugging as he sat back in his chair. "Seriously, though, I really hope Michael goes far in the Sinnoh League. He's worked so hard and continues to think he isn't good enough."

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed, also agreeing with Ash and Serena. "Pikachu, chu."

"He just needs to build his inner confidence." As Serena spoke, she had a serious look on her face. "In the beginning of my journey, I wasn't confident in my abilities in performing whatsoever, especially after my loss to Aria," she said. "I guess that's why I went to Hoenn to compete in contests, though, to better myself, and I can see him doing the same: going to Sinnoh to better himself before he comes back to Sinnoh."

Both Ash and Pikachu gave Serena a nod in agreement.

"I can see him doing that, I guess," Ash said. "However, just because he ma-"

A loud, urgent knock on the door had interrupted Ash, causing him and Serena to sigh.

"Who is it?"

"It's Alain, and I have bad news," he said, waiting for Ash to allow him in.

Ash let out a sigh as he sat up in his chair, causing Pikachu to jump off his shoulders, hat still on his head. Serena sat on the chair, wondering what the apparent bad news was.

 _Hmm?_

"Come in Alain."

Not even two seconds later, the door opened, revealing Alain, dressed in an outfit similar to the one he wore back during his Kalos journey. He wore a pair of blue jeans, a black leather jacket, and his signature blue scarf. The expression on his face showed that it was really dire news.

"So what is it?"

Letting out a sigh, Alain prepared to drop a bombshell on Ash.

"Ash," he started, taking a deep breath, "to put it simply, the Adamant Orb in Sinnoh was taken from its position on Iron Island." Ash, Serena, and Pikachu all opened their eyes in surprise.

"Pika?"

"What do you mean it was taken?" Ash asked. "Like literally stolen? I thought it was near-impossible to penetrate the doors of the ruins?"

Alain shrugged his shoulders, not being able to provide Ash with an exact answer.

"That's what Cynthia told us when she moved the Orbs all those years ago," Alain said. "But I guess not. It doesn't end there, though."

Ash's eyes opened as wide as a golf ball at this revelation.

"What else could there possibly be?"

Alain glanced down at the ground, gulping loud as he prepared to drop a bombshell once more. Not even looking up with his eyes closed, Alain spoke.

"Michael Owens was found at the scene unconscious, in a nightmare of sorts, and is now in the hospital," Alain said, finally looking up at Ash.

Ash sat there in his seat and shook his head, eyes tearing up a little. Similar to Ash, both Serena and Pikachu had been taken aback by what Alain had said. Ash, though, simply stared at his desk, allowing a single tear to drop on the solid wood.

 _Fuck… why did this happen to him?_

* * *

 **There it is! The end of chapter three! I really hope you guys enjoyed it! To recap, though, we finally introduced Ash Ketchum, who learns about the unfortunate fate of Michael Owens (and Lenny). I wasn't thinking about putting a battle in this chapter originally, though, but I feel like it made the Adamant Orb altercation much more intense, I guess. Also, speaking of the altercation, we also introduced Ajax and Z! I really enjoyed writing their characters, especially Z's, but I don't know how you guys feel about them. Before I put down the questions, however, I just want to say one thing regarding this story:** **don't expect anything!**

 **1: What do you guys think of Ajax and Z? I feel like I made them polar opposites of each other, with Ajax being more mature while Z is kind of—for lack of a better term—insane?**

 **2: What did you think of the battle this chapter?**

 **3: What do you think of Darkrai being in the hands of Ajax and Z? I know some people may not be fans of Legendary/Mythical Pokemon being caught, but to be fair, Darkrai and others fit incredibly well with how I want this to be shaped out.**

 **4: Lastly, what's Ash's relationship with Michael? Any guesses?**


	4. Chapter 4 - The Aftermath

**Well, after a long wait, here it is! Chapter four is finally up, and I feel like it is very good. I really don't want to stall too much, but just a warning here, a lot of things happen this chapter, so just pay attention when you read. I was really thinking of what to implement this chapter, and I think that I did it very well. Hopefully, you all enjoy reading this chapter as much as I did writing it, though! Again, thank you all for waiting patiently and as always I appreciate the continued support!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter Four - The Aftermath**_

 _Canalave City, Sinnoh_

 _September 8th, 2032_

"Doctor West, Lenny has no injuries, right?"

"Yes Professor Rowan, Lenny wasn't hurt when we found him in Iron Island."

Currently, Professor Rowan was seated in a small hospital room with a large bed, where Lenny was sleeping. To say that Lenny was sleeping peacefully, though, would be a lie. In the bed, he was twisting and turning continuously and murmured incomprehensibly to himself. For the past few hours, Lenny had been sweating profusely as well. Professor Rowan looked at Lenny with a sympathetic look on his face. Sighing, he turned back to the female doctor before him.

"What about Infernape? Is he okay?"

Unlike before, though, Doctor West let out a sigh of her own and shook her head.

"Sadly, Infernape broke his left wrist, but he should still be able to train," Doctor West said, before looking at Lenny. "There is also no telling when Lenny, Infernape, or the others will wake up from their sleep, though."

Professor Rowan was silent for a moment before nodding his head in thanks. Doctor West bowed her head in respect before leaving the room. Rowan walked over to Lenny's bedside and placed his hands on the side, sighing once more.

"This is my fault," he said to himself, shaking his head. "I should've known something was going to happen…" Professor Rowan sighed to himself and stared at Lenny's sleeping figure.

"D-Darkrai," Lenny could be heard mumbling to himself as he trembled in the hospital bed.

When Lenny said that, Professor Rowan let out a sigh.

"I guess my hypothesis was correct," Professor Rowan said to himself, looking at the ground. "Jesus, if Darkrai was involved, though, Lenny could've died in there." Professor Rowan started to tear up as he brought his gaze up to Lenny. Looking at his sleeping figure, a single tear fell before he sat back into the chair by his bed. "If he's not okay, this is all my fault." He looked up to the ceiling, his white eyes stained a red color. "I'm sorry John and Emily… I failed you both."

Professor Rowan suddenly got back up from his seat and turned to Lenny, who was breathing heavily, once more.

"I'm sorry Lenny," he said, refusing to look at him. "I'm so, so, so sorr-"

Professor Rowan was interrupted by the sound of the hospital room door opening. In seconds, a brolic figure stepped into the room and immediately walked over to the bed. Professor Rowan instantly recognized the figure and walked over to him.

"Hello Byron," he greeted, looking at him. Byron avoided eye contact with Professor, simply just looking at Lenny. Professor Rowan say this and raised an eyebrow, following Byron's gaze. "I'm assuming you were there with him?"

Byron let out a sigh before turning to Professor Rowan. When he looked at him, Byron had a similar, upset expression on his face.

"To an extent, Professor," he said, visibly confusing Professor Rowan. "It's an extremely long story."

Professor Rowan didn't waste any time before responding. He needed to get to the bottom of this situation, and if he needed to get answers from Byron, he would.

"Well, then start explaining."

Byron let out a sigh before turning to Lenny once more.

"Well, to begin with," he starting, his hands out to his sides, "I was training my team before Lenny and his friend Michael came in." Professor Rowan gave Byron another puzzled look, which Byron didn't see as he continued. "They asked me where the Adamant Orb was and explained that you sent them, when I had asked why," Byron explained, but soon after, he let out a deep exhale. "Just as my Lucario and I were going to lead them to the Adamant Orb, I froze and couldn't move. I was able to think and watch them, but I couldn't move." Byron looked at Professor Rowan and bowed his head in an apologetic manner. "It's my fault that Lenny is in this condition right now. I'm in the understanding that you two are fairly close, and if I checked on the Orb more frequently, he wouldn't be in this predicament."

Professor Rowan placed a reassuring hand on Byron's broad shoulder, with a sympathetic smile.

"Don't stress over it Byron," Professor Rowan said. "It isn't your fault that someone would tamper with the Adamant Orb. You thought that the location was a secret, and apparently it wasn't."

Byron didn't say anything but stare at Lenny once more. He couldn't get over the fact that this could be his fault.

 _I shouldn't have let them go down. If I had just said no, this wouldn't have happe-_

"Byron!"

Both Byron and Professor Rowan turned to the hospital door and saw a feminine figure walk towards them. As soon as they recognized who it was, they both let out an almost silent sigh.

"Cynthia," they both said at once, nodding their heads respectfully.

Cynthia walked towards them with, to put it simply, a furious look on her face. As she walked, her footsteps seemingly echoed across the room, and she was walking with a purpose.

"This is your fault, Byron!" she yelled, pointing over to Lenny, who was in a deep nightmare. She walked over to Byron, so that she was looking him straight in the eye. "We put you in charge of the Adamant Orb, and two kids that both have an extremely bright future, gets attacked by a Darkrai and hurt!"

Byron raised his hands in defense, with a startled look on his face. They both had never seen Cynthia this mad before and were genuinely surprised when she came in like this

"Cynthia!" he exclaimed. "There was nothing I could do! I was immobilized by the Adamant Orb, practically frozen in time, and they went on to check it!"

Byron's exclamation seemed to make Cynthia even more enraged.

"That doesn't matter!" Cynthia yelled. "Because of you not checking on the Adamant Orb, there are people and Pokemon, including one of yours, hurt! You caused this Byron, and you can't change that!" Cynthia took a deep breath before continuing. "You are lucky that we need you, or I would've removed you from your gym leader position due to you failing to keep the public safe!"

Professor Rowan looked on and saw Byron glance at the ground. As much as he wanted to say something, he didn't want to add any fuel to Cynthia's rage. However, though, that didn't seem to matter as Cynthia turned her attention to him, with an equally as angered look on her face.

"And you Rowan," Cynthia started, causing Professor Rowan to sigh, "don't think that you're not in the wrong either! You shouldn't have told Len-"

"Cynthia, with all due respect, you need to cool down," Professor Rowan said, looking at Cynthia. "If we want to settle this situation, walking in with a hot head isn't going to do much."

That seemed to enrage Cynthia even more.

"How can I not be enraged?!" She raised her voice, eyeing down Rowan. "It is my duty to keep the Sinnoh region safe, and by you allowing Lenny to go to Iron Island, two practically _famous_ trainers, who also happen to be some of the Sinnoh League's best investments, are in the hospital and people are bound to find out that the Adamant Orb is gone sooner or later!"

It was Byron's turn to speak up, in an attempt to calm down Cynthia.

"Cynthia, we have to look at this situation with a cool head," Byron said. "I can admit that I was irresponsible about watching over the Adamant Orb, and after what happened with Galactic, you have the right to be angry, but our only witnesses are in nightmares, and we don't know when they will wake up." Byron took a deep breath before he continued on. "The first thing we need to do is wait for Lenny and Michael to wake up. With Darkrai not present, their nightmares should end soon."

Professor Rowan nodded his head, agreeing with what Byron was saying.

"Listen to him Cynthia," Professor Rowan said. Cynthia looked between Byron and Professor Rowan and sighed. "Give it a few hours, and they'll wake up. From there, we can locate the Adamant Orb and safely get it back to Iron Island."

"Alright, fine. Tell me when either Lenny or Michael wakes up," Cynthia responded. "But if anyone else ends up getting hurt because of this, though, there will be repercussions, I can promise you both that much."

The tone behind Cynthia's voice had taken both Byron and Rowan aback. With that, though, she turned and walked out of the hospital room, leaving Byron, Professor Rowan, and a still sleeping Lenny by themselves.

"Well, there's that," Byron said, letting out another sigh. "I swear, I've never seen Cynthia that mad before, though, even during the Galactic situation."

Professor Rowan simply shrugged in response, taking a deep breath.

"To be completely fair, she wasn't in the wrong at all," Professor Rowan stated, and Byron gave him a nod in response. "As the Champion, it is her duty to make sure the people of Sinnoh aren't in harm's way, and look what we have here: two potential stars in the Sinnoh League and their careers could be postponed because of this."

"I understand that, but I r-"

"No arguing, Byron," Professor Rowan said, dismissing him. "We both were in the wrong, so let's move on. We have bigger problems to handle now, though." Professor Rowan turned to Lenny and signed once more. "Still, it pains me seeing Lenny like this. He doesn't deserve to experience Darkrai's nightmares."

"I don't think anyone does, Professor."

The two continued talking about the situation for another ten minutes before they went silent. Nothing too special happened besides Doctor West coming in to check on Lenny but was disappointed to see he was in the same situation as before, although the nightmares seemed to be affecting him a lot more as he was silently sobbing and cringing in his sleep. Whatever nightmare Darkrai had put Lenny in seemed to disturb him a great amount. Professor Rowan, though, could not take his gaze away from him. Despite not even being involved, he felt guilty.

Suddenly, though, Byron got up and had started to dismiss himself from the hospital room.

"I need to go check on Lucario," he had said before he left.

Since Byron was gone, it was basically just Professor Rowan left in the room, and he did not plan on leaving until Lenny was awake as he went to go sit back in the chair by his hospital bed. Silently, Rowan watched Lenny before burying his face on his hands. Watching Lenny like this was stressful for Professor Rowan.

"Why? He didn't deserve this," Professor Rowan said almost incomprehensibly into his palms. "Just like his parents didn't, either…"

Professor Rowan took his face out of his hands and sat back into the chair, closing his eyes tight.

 _This is going to be a long day,_ he concluded.

In mere minutes, though, Professor Rowan could only see darkness and was in his own world of dreams.

 **X.x.X**

 _Spear Pillar, Sinnoh_

 _Unknown Date_

The sky above Mt. Coronet's peak was completely black, and there was no stars in the sky. The only thing visible in the sky was a blood red, full moon, and the reflection it casted down upon the Spear Pillar made everything seem a red color.

There was one figure on the Spear Pillar, though, and he was down on his knees and hands, sweat dripping down from his forehead profusely. He was gasping for air repeatedly as he gripped the stone floor hard.

"W-where am I now?" Michael Owens said, his voice shaky.

 _The Spear Pillar,_ a voice in his head responded. _Before you wake up, there is one last thing I wanted to show you, human._

Michael Owens looked up and saw dozens broken, stone pillars, all different sizes. One top of one of the pillars to his right, though, he saw a black figure balanced on two skinny legs, its blue eyes looking directly at him.

"W-what d-did you d-do to Len-"

Darkrai immediately teleported to Michael with a stoic look. With a twist of his head, though, each of Michael's fingers twisted in an awkward manner, all of them snapping.

"Fuck!" Michael screamed as tears started to form in his eyes. Michael went to grab his hand in pain, but was stopped by his arm turning in the other direction, completely breaking, much like his fingers.

 _You're forgetting that you are_ _ **my**_ _realm now,_ Darkrai said. _I may be under someone else's control in the real world, but in my world of nightmares, I still have control, and you will not ask any questions._ Darkrai waited for a response, and when Michael didn't give him one, it summoned a sharp metal rod that went straight through Michael's right broken hand, causing him to scream at the top of his lungs and blood to pour over the stone ground. _You_ _ **will**_ _listen to what I have to say and respond when spoken to. Understood?_

Michael could be hear sobbing, refusing to look at Darkrai.

"Y-yes, I u-understand."

 _Good._ Darkrai turned away from Michael and stared up at the sky. With a small motion of his head, a large white, regal staircase started to form and extended all the way into the black sky. _Do you have any clue where this staircase leads?_

"N-no," Michael said almost immediately, still sobbing due to Darkrai's punishment from earlier.

 _I figured,_ Darkrai said, with what seemed like a sigh. _Anyway, I will inform you about this staircase. This staircase can only be summoned with an artifact known as the Azure Flute, and it leads to a place beyond life itself, the Hall of Origin._ Darkrai turned around and looked at the staircase. _The Hall of Origin is the place where Arceus, the Creator of our world, resides,_ Darkrai said, its voice remaining monotone and eerie. _As you most likely know, however, Arceus created Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina here at the Spear Pillar._

Darkrai turned back to Michael and tilted its head once more. Upon the head movement, the white staircase disappeared and three massive creatures took shape. Michael looked at the three creatures in complete awe, his mouth opened wide.

 _The Creation Trio,_ Michael thought to himself as the three titans stood there.

 _However,_ Darkrai began once more, as with a hand movement, a red chain of sorts started to form around Dialga and Palkia, while a black chain formed around Giratina, _there are two items in your world, one dubbed the Red Chain, which allows one to control both Dialga and Palkia. At this point, the Red Chain is fairly common due to Galactic using it, but the other chain, the Distortion Chain, is used to control the Banished One, Giratina._ Darkrai and Michael watched on as Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina struggled in their respective chains before their eyes glossed over with a blue color, similar to Darkrai's, and went still, completely frozen, it seemed.

Michael wanted to ask what happened to them, but he refrained from doing so as he didn't want to take any more punishment from Darkrai. As Darkrai was talking to him, Michael couldn't help but look at his arm, and the rod that had pierced his hand. He winced as saw the amount of dry blood that was shed by him.

 _As you can see,_ Darkrai continued, motioning to the three, _the Creation Trio, in this state, are able to be controlled by whomever summons the chains._ Michael listened to Darkrai speak-technically, he had no choice as it was all telepathically-and he was absorbed in what it was saying, despite what Darkrai had been doing to him. _I do wonder, though. Why would Arceus ever allow the creation of these chains? Enough rambling, though, do you know why I'm telling you this?_

"N-not exactly, Darkrai," Michael responded, voice shaking. He was still shaken up by the ruthlessness of Darkrai.

 _I figured as much,_ it said. Darkrai turned to Michael and continued on. _However, I can foresee this information being detrimental to your success in fighting against Ajax, Z, and the rest of the Cult._

"D-do you know w-what their motives a-are?" Michael thought the question was reasonable and fairly innocent but cringed in pain and Darkrai twisted his snapped fingers even more.

 _Remember what I said, human! You talk and ask questions on my terms!_ Darkrai yelled in Michael's head, causing him to nod his head in a quick and silent manner. _Although, I will humor you and answer your question._ Michael simply nodded his head as Darkrai prepared to speak.

 _How bipolar can a Mythical be?_ Michael mused to himself, averting eye contact from Darkrai.

 _I do not know exactly what their motives are, no,_ Darkrai started, _but it involves Dialga. That is all I can tell you, but I must say, in a sick, twisted way, I find this rather amusing, despite the rage I have from being controlled against your own will._

Everytime Darkrai went on, Michael wanted to leave this place more. To say the least, being in Darkrai's presence was incredibly disturbing, especially considering how strict and, ironically, how controlling it could be. On top of that, he could only imagine what was happening in the real world as the Adamant Orb was taken by Ajax and Z. Keeping a straight face on, in order not to instigate Darkrai in any manner, he began to think.

 _Why did I have to get involved with this? I just wanted a normal season this time aro-_

Suddenly, though, as Michael stood at the nightmare realm's Spear Pillar, everything went white, temporarily blinding him. In the whiteness, he felt rather calm, unlike when he was with Darkrai. It was like the white was the polar opposite of where he had been. Despite not being able to see anything, however, a soothing voice spoke out to him.

 _Michael,_ it called out. Michael couldn't even tell the exact direction the voice was coming from, but the voice was so peaceful that it didn't even startle him. _I will not allow you to be a subject towards Darkrai's nightmares any longer. You will be waking up soon._

Michael wasn't even able to respond before the white turned to darkness. As the setting changed, Michael had begun to feel actual control over his body and his surroundings. He could tell that he was laying down, on a soft bed of sorts, but couldn't open his eyes yet. However, soon after, through his closed eyes, Michael could see a white light almost penetrate through his eyelids.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw a bright lamp shine down upon him. As he rose from his bed, he looked around and analyzed his surroundings.

 _I'm in a hospital it looks like,_ Michael thought to himself as he looked at a blue gown he had been wearing. Turning to his right, though, he saw a familiar person sleeping in the chair at his bedside. She had long raven hair with a tanned skin complexion. She sat in the chair, wearing a red sweatshirt and black leggings. Immediately upon recognizing the girl, Michael opened his eyes wide.

"Lindsey?!"

 **X.x.X**

 _Outside Hearthome City, Sinnoh_

 _September 9th, 2032_

Brett was currently sitting down on a broken tree stump, watching a massive Charizard, who was sleeping. The expression on Brett's face was extremely thoughtful and he had his hand under his chin, with a frustrated expression on his face. A couple of days ago, when Paul Shinji of the Kalos Elite Four watched him train, he had given Brett some encouragement. However, that hadn't seemed to ease Brett about this upcoming season.

 _No matter what Paul said about me, I can't let up this season,_ Brett thought to himself. _Even though I got past the first half of Indigo's Elite Four, I'm only the third seed._ He glanced at Charizard even closer and sighed. _There are at least two other people who can easily win the entire Conference before me, and we have to work harder than ever before._

"Charizard," Brett spoke up. Charizard didn't bother getting up from his resting position, but opened his eyes and glanced at Brett, waiting for him to speak. Brett got up from his seat and walked next to Charizard and sat next to him. "We have to make sure this season we come out on top," he simply said.

Charizard let out a small roar in acknowledgement and nodded his head. Brett, before he continued, smiled and pet Charizard's head.

"We have to train harder than all of our competition," Brett said, staring at Charizard. "This isn't like our rookie season. Every trainer in the top ten seeds is more than capable of winning the Lily of the Valley Conference."

"Charrr," he responded, with a small smirk on his mouth.

"I'm glad that your confident," Brett said. "However, I hope you're not too cocky, bud. We still have much to learn if we want to go all the way."

Charizard didn't say anything in response but instead closed his eyes. Seeing this, Brett sighed to himself, which Charizard didn't even seem to hear.

Brett didn't even bother saying anything regarding Charizard's antics, only shaking his head. He then turned around and laid on Charizard's side, staring blankly into the blue sky.

"I wonder what Brooke is doing now," Brett said to himself, almost completely zoned out. Shaking his head once more, he thought back to their altercation at the Pokemon League facility almost a week ago.

 _I really hope she doesn't hate me still_ , he thought to himself with a sigh. _I may've been a complete asshole back in Pallet, but that was so long ago. I wish she can just look pa-_

Brett's thoughts were interrupted by the warm face of Charizard on the side of his face. Brett looked at Charizard and gave him a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine Charizard," he said. "Just… doing some thinking, I guess."

Charizard let out a sound, seeming like an okay of sorts, and closed his blue eyes. Brett looked back at the sky and frowned.

 _Why is she still on my mind? Brooke obviously wants nothing to do with me._

Brett shut his eyes and let darkness take over his vision.

 _Maybe I can make it up to Brooke somehow?_ With his eyes closed, Brett had a saddened expression on his face. _I just have to prove to her that she still means a lot to me._

Brett signed in frustration, but this time Charizard didn't check on him, leaving him and his thoughts alone.

 _I hate conflicting thoughts,_ Brett thought. One one side, Brett wanted to devote his time to Pokemon training and the upcoming season, but on the other, he felt like he had to rebuild this broken relationship. _Maybe I can just sleep on this_.

That was his final thought before he shut his eyes tighter. Within minutes, he fell into a deep sleep, almost escaping from his thoughts.

 **X.x.X**

 _ **FLASHBACK**_

 _Pallet Town, Kanto_

 _August 9th, 2028_

"Brooke, we were supposed to do this together! This was supposed to be our journey!"

"Brett, I'm sorry, but I have to do this. My parents are in Johto, and I need to find them!"

Brooke Winters and Brett Rodriguez stood across from each other in the rural Pallet Town, just before the start of Route One. The sun was blazing down on them in a cloudless, blue sky, and the air was hot and still. It was also a quiet day, but the yelling between Brooke and Brett did not contribute to that much.

"But we were supposed to conquer Kanto, Brooke! We planned this since we were little ki-"

"Brett, this is something I have to do," she spoke, looking at him solemnly in his eyes. "They left me for no reason, without any notice whatsoever, and I hear from Professor Oak that they are in Johto? I have to ask them why, Brett. I have to look them in the eyes and ask, 'Why did you guys leave me here?'"

Brett sighed for a second and looked down at the dirt road they were arguing on. He looked back at Brooke and opened his mouth to say something, staring directly in her dark blue eyes, which were tearing up.

"Then, let me come with you," he said walking towards her. He reached for her hand and grabbed it tight, squeezing it in reassurance. "I've known you for most of your life, Brooke. If there is one person across this entire world that would stand by your side throughout this, it's me."

Brooke glanced down at their intertwined hands silently for a moment before shaking her head. She pulled her hand out of Brett's, and it was now her turn to look down at the ground.

"I'm sorry, Brett," Brooke said quietly. "You're my best friend, and that will never change, but I hope you get that this is something that I have to accomplish by myself." While speaking, she brought her gaze up to meet Brett's green eyes and frowned. "This is something beyond our whole friendship, Brett. I appreciate everything that you've ever done for me, but I have to tackle this alone since it's my parents."

Brett stood shocked at what Brooke revealed. He started at her with his eyes opened wide, causing her to give him a confused look and wonder what she did wrong.

 _Beyond our whole friendship,_ he repeated in his head. _This is beyond our friendship, then. I guess we aren't really true friends because friends take on these problems together._

"Do you really mean that?"

"Mean what, Brett?"

"That... this is beyond our friendship and everything that we've been through?" Anyone could be able to hear the sadness behind his tone of voice, but Brooke did not catch on, it seems.

"Um, yeah. We're talking about my parents who ran away from me, Brett," she said, with an even more confused tone. "No matter why they ran, blood will always be thicker than water. The professor taught me that li-"

"Well," Brett started, taking a step back, "I guess we were really never friends then."

It was Brooke's turn to be taken aback now as she started at Brett with wide eyes.

"What do you mea-"

"Just shut up, Brooke," Brett said with his fists clenched at his sides. He avoided her look, staring at the ground, and faint tears could be seen dripping from his eyes.

Brooke walked towards him and reassuringly grabbed his hand, starting to speak.

"Look, this is all a misunderstanding, Brett. I never said that I didn't value our friendship, but this is family! When I say this, I mean it in the least offensive way possible: family always comes fi-"

Brett practically yanked his hand out of Brooke's grip and pushed her away from him, causing her to fall to the ground with a loud thud. She looked up at Brett as her eyes started to water, completely unable to say anything or muster any words up. Instead, she sat there, sobbing.

"Brooke," he started, looking at her with a hurt look. "Know what? I'm done with you. This entire time, I thought that we'd do everything together and never leave each other's sides, but I guess not. I guess I was wrong." Brett was clearly upset and angry and Brooke, who was still sobbing, and he wasn't scared to show it. "I've known you for your entire life, and you throw me aside for people who _left_ you, even if they're your family or not!"

"Brett-"

"Shut up, Brooke!" Brett pointed at her with a shaky finger. "This was going to be the start of our big adventure, but you ruined it! You ruined it because you can't let go of your past, and I'm tired of it! Every time some little detail comes up about your screwed-up family, you jump to it and just leave me behind!" Brett's eyes were starting to turn red and begin to tear up, but unlike Brooke, it was out of anger.

"Why are you sa-"

"Just stop talking!"

There was a silence between the two of them and neither person even moved. They were simply staring at each other, with a very awkward feeling lingering as they remained in their positions. Brett, though, was the one who broke the silence, with a sigh followed by a shake of his head.

"Brooke," Brett began, "just leave." He glared at her, with his green eyes piercing into her. "Go to Johto and _please_ try to find your dysfunctional family." He looked at the ground and frowned. "Leave me like you always do. I won't get upset about it." Looking back at her, Brett shook his head, his eyes still stained a red color. "I wish you the best of luck."

Brett turned away from her and unclipped a Pokeball from the belt and looked at it.

"Charmander, I guess you're the only one on my side," he said as he started walking away, feeling the Pokeball shake lightly in his hands. "Let's leave this bitch to herself…" Brett made sure to say that last part very loud, so Brooke ended up hearing it herself.

As Brett walked away, Brooke sat on the ground, staring at his figure getting smaller and smaller as he walked farther away, not really knowing what to think or how to feel.

"He just called me a bitch," Brooke said to herself, more tears dripping from her eyes. "He really did… and he meant it." She buried her head into her hands as she continued talking to herself. "Why can't Brett understand?" Brooke asked herself rhetorically. "He can't understand that this is my family, and that these are answers I have to find out." Sighing to herself, she continued on, getting more angry. "He can't accept that _finding my family_ is more important than traveling around Kanto with him! He would never understand what it's like to spend years of your life without your parents, and then he has the nerve to call me a bitch!"

Brooke stood up adamantly, wiping the tears from her eyes, but much like Brett, they were stained a red color.

"I'll make sure to go to Johto, and I'll find my parents. Maybe they want nothing to do with me, but oh well," Brooke said to herself as she started walking back to Pallet.

 _At least I'll be better off then forcing myself to travel with that little shit!_

 **X.x.X**

 _Snowpoint City, Sinnoh_

 _September 10th, 2032_

"Br...," Brooke mumbled in her sleep. "Why does h…" As she slept in the hotel's bed, she trailed on and off in her sleep incomprehensibly. While going on, she twisted and turned in the covers in her bed and seemed very distressed. "H... wo... for…" The parts of what Brooke was saying that could actually be understood sounded very confused and almost like she was upset about something. "...sor…" was the last thing that she said before her eyes started fluttering open.

She immediately rose up from her bed and recalled what she was dreaming about, letting out a sigh, before she collapsed back down covering her face in the white pillow she was just sleeping on. Inside of the pillow, she let out a groan and had grumbled something inaudible.

"Why is he sti…" The first part of what she said was clearly heard, but as she went on less and less could be heard due to her getting quieter and pressing the pillow tighter against her face. As shown by her antics, Brooke was very stressed right now and did not know how to get whatever that was on her mind off it. Taking the pillow away, she sighed once more and pressed her hands against the side of her head, still lying back. "Fuck this, I have bigger things to worry about right now," she concluded with an urgent tone. She sat up from her current position and glanced at the holographic clock on her nightstand. "It's seven thirty-two. I have plenty of time to get ready for today.

"But how should I kill the time?" she asked herself aloud. Thinking for a bit, she smiled as she put an idea in her head. "I can plan out our strategy to face the gym leader here! The season just started so we have to get to work." She turned to the Pokeballs sitting on her nightstand and nodded with determination, all feelings before seemingly gone.

Getting up from her bed, she stretched and let out a loud yawn that echoed across her hotel room.

 _Here we go,_ Brooke thought one last time before hurrying off to get herself situated and ready.

…

"Alright Venusaur, it's already set that we're going to have you anchoring against Candice since she'll most likely end things off with her Abomasnow."

True to her words earlier, Brooke was in the middle of a forest clearing, although this time the cold was actually tolerable for her, and she was talking to her team about their upcoming match against Candice, the Ice-type gym leader of Snowpoint with a completely focused look. Being the seventh gym leader of the Sinnoh region, Candice was a respectable Pokemon trainer as she had multiple Elite Four appearances under her belt, each spearheaded by her Abomasnow, who has many notable victories, like against former Elite Four members strongest Pokemon, like Bertha's Mega Swampert and Lucian's Mega Gallade. However, as Brooke spoke to her team, she looked at the current line up she had, her main six Pokemon. From left ro right, there was her Florges, Ninetails, Tyranitar, Venusaur, Skarmory, and Milotic, all of whom she has spent years with. Moreover, she turned her attention to the massive, bulky Tyranitar,who was easily standing over eight feet tall, and smiled.

"I got good news for you, though, Tyranitar," she told him, whose interest was instantly directed towards Brooke. "You will be starting off the match first, since her lead is usually her Glaceon, so she can set up hailstorms for the duration of her matches. We need to remove these hazards as soon as possible with your Sandstorm Rocks move, and keep her at the top of her toes." She turned to her Skarmory now. "This is where you come in, girl. I'm going to end up switching Tyranitar as soon as he gets his Sandstorm Rocks up, and then I want you to be as annoying as possible." Skarmory looked pleased as her trainer was talking since this strategy was right up her alley. "We're going to have you set up an actual Stealth Rocks and Spikes and there will be a lot of Whirlwinds, so they take that extra damage.

"This plan is almost foolproof, I'm telling you guys. We're gonna set off the Sinnoh league with a big ass bang!"

Her team cheered on as she finished explaining them that part of their plan, but she held her hand up signaling them all to quiet down.

"We're not done yet, guys," Brooke had to interject. "That's only the beginning of the battle, so Candice will have to be able to adapt to this very, very quickly since she's known for being able to control the battlefield incredibly well. She's gonna tear down our sandstorm and sadly Tyranitar and Skarmory after their stalling gets old, so then we bring out Ninetails." Brooke turned to Ninetails, who stood there listening to the game plan she was giving out. "Ninetails, I'm going to need you to use your Drought ability immediately to cancel out whatever ice-themed counter they have prepared for the sand, and you're gonna have to burn everything to a crisp. I know that you're usually a support player on our team, but we're gonna need you to pack a punch because on her current listed roster, she has no fire counter. I'm sure she has something to get rid of Fire-types early, though, so expect that."

Ninetails gave Brooke a nod in the affirmative and stead quiet in order for her to continue on as her trainer turned her attention to Milotic and Florges.

"I'm sorry, but Milotic and Florges, you guys won't have the largest role in the match, minus the fact that Florges will be supporting the team, while keeping herself healed, and that Milotic will just stall and tire out her opponent, hopefully her Weavile or Froslass, because she can take fast attackers very well," she addressed to the team, but specifically to Florges and Milotic as she was looking at them when she spoke. After Brooke finished with stating her teams game plan and strategy, she opened her mouth one more time to speak.

"Well, with that out of the way, I think it's time that we start prepping out our strategi-"

"Brooke Winters! It's good to see you!"

Brooke turned around and saw the last person she wanted to see right now: the gym leader herself, Candice Suzuna, with her Weavile and Alolan-Ninetails trailing besides her. She had a smile on her face as she walked over to Brooke, eyeing her and her team with curiosity.

"I see you're training your team," Candice made a note, drawing a nod from Brooke. "The season just started, so I'm assuming you're prepping for a gym battle?" Candice had a slight smirk as she said the latter part of the sentence.

Brooke nodded once more as she opened her mouth to respond.

"Yeah, I am," she started, "and I'm quite confident that we're gonna beat whoever we face." Brooke also had a smirk of her own as she spoke to Candice, who nodded.

As the two stood there with their respective team members, the opposing Pokemon seemed to eye down each other with a glare. The only Pokemon who weren't participating in the petty staredown were Brooke's Venusaur and Tyranitar, with Venusaur looking bored and Tyranitar not caring. The trainers, however, did not have as much hostility between them, but there was still tension between them.

"You know," Candice spoke up. "I would help you train in a two-on-two match, but I can take a guess on who you are challenging." Candice walked towards Brooke, with her mirroring Candice's motions, and stuck her hand out for a handshake, which Brooke accepted. "It's a pleasure to challenge one of the Sinnoh League's signees, especially one who's as talented as you. I'm always up for a challenge, so please, sign up for a battle soon as soon as possible!" Candice said with a cheerful tone. She genuinely seemed excited to battle Brooke, so she gave her a smile in response.

"Thank you for the compliments, Candice," Brooke said, remaining the same smile, "but despite your flattery, I still won't hold back; I'm not in this to lose."

To this, Candice smirked.

"I wouldn't expect a trainer of your caliber to hold back against me. I'm expecting you to start off your season with a bang," Candice said, with a confident look plastered on her pale face. "However, it won't be against me. I am not holding back."

"Ditto, Candice," Brooke said, a smirk on her face now. "I wouldn't want you to hold back. I want to earn my win!"

Candice looked at Brooke and smiled at her. Despite the positive interaction between Brooke and Candice, though, their Pokemon still did not share the same feelings, them seeming to want to fight now. Brooke and Candice shook their heads at the Pokemon's antics, and Candice recalled her Pokemon, preventing anything from happening.

"I should take my leave then and prepare for our battle, considering you'll be facing me," she said to Brooke. "It was good talking to you, and I really look forward to our battle. See you later!"

"Bye Candice!"

Both trainers waved goodbye to each other as Candice turned and walked back towards Snowpoint City, leaving Brooke back with her team of six. Turning to her team, she smirked and opened her mouth to speak them.

"Well, there's that," Brooke said, laughing. She quickly turned serious again soon after, though. "Anyways," she started, looking at each individual team member, "I think we get some scrimishes and one on ones in since we won't be challenging her for a few days. What do you all say?"

Her teamed cheered at Brooke's question and immediately paired up-Venusaur went with Tyranitar, Florges with Milotic, and Ninetails with Skarmory. This is how they were used to training. Brooke deliberately made sure that her Pokemon go into unfair matches, so that they're ready to fight against Pokemon that they struggle with and are weak against. For example, Ninetails went with Skarmory because, while she might have an elemental advantage, it is difficult for Ninetails to track down Skarmory due to her simple ability to fly.

 _Anything to get them stronger,_ Brooke thought to herself after her Pokemon finished pairing up. _I like how their getting better at deciding their own weaknesses and trying to improve them._

"Alright!" Brooke had spoken up, grabbing the attention of her Pokemon. "With me, I want Venusaur and Tyranitar sparring, and"-she turned to Tyranitar and smirked-"use as much physical power as you please," she finished off. Turning to the other four, she commanded, "Now, you four do whatever you see fit, while still in your pairs of two, okay?"

Ninetails, Milotic, Florges, and Skarmory all nodded at Brooke and ran off in their own directions, not too far from their trainer, though, Meanwhile, she looked at Tyranitar and Venusaur and smiled. She always enjoyed watching these two spar as it was a clash of two polar opposite styles.

"Alright! Begin!"

The two behemoths already started their offenses as Brooke watched on, with a watchful look on her face. The main purpose of this, of course, was to polish up their weaknesses, but her Pokemon always took it a little more than a normal spar.

As Venusaur was firing off a barrage of Sludge Bomb attacks, Tyranitar was forced to play defense by shielding himself with Earthquake attacks that pushed up the snowy ground up in front of him as a shield of sorts. The entire time, Brooke sat there and watched, thinking to herself with a happy, pleased look on her face.

 _We're gonna go far this year,_ she thought to herself before her mind turned to a thought that she did not like thinking about. _We're gonna prove Brett wrong, too…_

 **X.x.X**

 _Canalave City, Sinnoh_

 _September 10th, 2032_

"So Lindsey, what are you doing here?"

Michael and this Lindsey person were walking along the streets of Canalave City. Unlike Snowpoint, it was completely sunny despite the chilly winds hitting them. The fall weather was beginning to come around, though, with the leaves on some of the trees around Canalave starting to turn red, yellow, and brown colors, their green summer coating falling off. Lindsey looked around and seemed surprised by the weather here, however.

 _It's usually freezing by this time of year back in Snowbelle,_ she pondered, not listening to Michael. _It's quite ni-_

"Lindsey?"

This seemed to snap her out of her thoughts as she turned to Michael and looked at him curiously.

"What Michael? I was looking at the scenery, we usually don't get this back in Kalos," she explained, and Michael shrugged before he went on.

"I understand, Lindsey, but seriously, what are you doing here?"

Michael had a serious expression on his face, and Lindsey sighed, looking at the ground as they continue walking along the side. As they walked, the ocean separating the two parts of the city roared on, despite there being no boats. Surprisingly, there wasn't too many people walking around since Canalave was one of the more popular cities in Sinnoh, due to it being a port city and connecting Sinnoh to the other regions by boat.

"Your mom made it clear that she did not want you with me in Sinnoh, especially after what happened in Kalos," he stated, with a stern tone behind her voice. "You know she won't be pleased with the idea of you running away to Sin-"

Lindsey interrupted Michael by literally crashing into him with a tight hug, burying herself into his chest. Michael didn't appear surprised by this, but instead immediately wrapped his arms around her lower waist and placed his chin on the top of her head.

"Michael, Dad told me what happened to you," Lindsey said removing her head from under his and looked at Michael right in the eyes. "How you ended up getting brought into a nightmare by Darkrai and fought in Iron Island. He sounded worried about you because you know my dad cares about you almost as much as I do," she said as they continued hugging. "You're like a second son to him."

Michael sighed as he looked at LIndsey in her bluish-brown eyes.

"I know, Lindsey, but I got brought into doing something for Professor Rowan," he said to her, shaking his head. "There were people there taking what I was looking for, and we fought. There was no way we could get out without fighting," Michael explained as quick as he could. "Lenny, another Sinnoh League signee, and I defeated the two people, but one of them had a control of a Darkrai."

As Michael went on explaining what had happened to him and Lenny, he couldn't help but think in the back of his head how disturbing Darkrai was. He cringed on the inside thinking about how painful experiencing his short nightmare was, but didn't show it. He didn't want Lindsey feeling even worse because of it,

 _Some details are better off unsaid,_ he thought as he released Lindsey from the hug.

"Again, though, I'm sorry that I put you and your parents through this," Michael said, with a sorrowful nod. "I know how much your parents work, especially your father."

"That's the main reason why I'm here, actually," Lindsey said, and MIchael looked at her like she had two heads.

"What?"

"He let me come here to watch you because of his obligations and duties! That's why I'm here," Lindsey said, practically yelling in joy. "I was so happy when he let me come, Michael! It's gonna be like Kalos all over aga-"

Michael shook his head and nearly glared at Lindsey, causing her to look at the ground and sigh.

"Lindsey, I'll never let there be another repeat of Kalos," Michael said, staring directly in her eyes. "You literally almost died! If you're here to make sure I'm safe, the I'll make sure we get into no danger, I swear." He softly grabbed her face and made her look right up at him. "You're not gonna get hurt, this time around, okay?"

Lindsey nodded her head, a serious expression on her face.

"Alright Michael," she said with a smile. "We'll just have a normal journey this time around, and I'll be supporting you the entire time." She grabbed his hand from her face and clenched it tightly, not wanting to let go. "This is gonna be our journey."

"Agreed," was all Michael said as they just stared at each other.

Michael and Lindsey stood out in the open, not bothering to remove their gazes from each other. The wind was blowing at a perfect speed, nobody was outside, making it perfectly quiet for them both. They both smiled at each other but neither said anything. As the wind kept blowing, however, Michael moved in for a kiss and LIndsey was quick to meet him in the middle, with no hesitation behind her motions. Despite the perfect environment, though, their sudden attempt for a kiss was still interrupted.

"Yo Michael!"

Both Michael and Lindsey turned towards the speaker, and Michael smirked when he saw who called for him, but Lindsey had a confused and embarrassed expression on her face, with a bright red blush on her tanned cheeks. The speaker had been a familiar dark brown-haired teenager with an equally as familiar Infernape to his right.

"Lenny!"

* * *

 **And there's that! Chapter four is finally done! To recap, Cynthia is pissed at Byron and Professor Rowan for allowing Lenny and Michael to check on the Adamant Orb, Michael is awake and well after experiencing a weird nightmare from Darkrai that revealed a few key things and met up with someone very close to him in Lindsey, Brett is sleeping somewhere outside of Hearthome dreaming about Brooke (the flashback happened years ago if you couldn't tell), and said girl is training her team for their match against Candice. Also, Lenny and Infernape are back with Michael and Lindsey. Damn, that was a lot, but all of it is important. We want to establish as many relations as early as possible because all these characters are related in one way or another. Without giving anything away, view it as one large spider web. Anyway, with all of that being said, let me ask you all questions.**

 **1: What do you think of Brooke's and Brett's relationship from a basic overview? Trust me, though, much, much more information will be revealed later on.**

 **2: What do you think of Lindsey's relationship with Michael, though? There's is very different than Brett's and Brook's, but trust me, even though they seem all close right now, there is a reason for this. Remember, these characters have had a previous journey too.**

 **3: Who is Lindsey? Any guesses?**

 **4: Anything that you can think I can improve on? I want to make this story as good as possible for you all.**

 **5: Lastly, there's a lot of character interactions that have happened so far, and while some might be done better than others, which is your favorite? Similarly, there are also a good amount of characters so far. Who is your favorite and let me know why?**


	5. Chapter 5 - The Offensive

**Well, here it is! Chapter five! I'm happy I got this one out relatively quick, compared to my last update, but my motivation came literally out of nowhere. I was just reading Pokemon fanfiction, and I couldn't really find anything that I enjoyed, so I decided to continue** _ **Transcended.**_ **I worked really hard on this chapter, though, and I hope that you all enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it! Also, here's a quick shout out to Warrior of Hope and TheGreat0ne. They help me a lot with their consistent reviews, and I appreciate it so much. If you're reading this and enjoy it, please don't be scared to leave a review! It helps me as a writer, and I love hearing what you all have to say.**

 **Before I begin, though, something happens this chapter, and I really hope it doesn't offend any of you reading. It was literally all coincidence, but I don't want to spoil anything. Again, I'm sorry if what happens offends you, but I still hope you enjoy nonetheless!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter Five - The Offensive**_

 _Sunyshore City, Sinnoh_

 _September 10th, 2032_

Unlike the rest of the Sinnoh region, Sunyshore City remained sunny and hot throughout the entire year, which had been the main reason as to why it was dubbed the most common vacation spot on the eastern half of the Pokemon world, only behind Olivine and Slateport in Johto and Hoenn, respectfully. The air was completely still and humid despite it nearing the beginning of autumn. The leaves on the select few trees still remained a bright, shiny green color instead of the variety of browns, reds, and yellows. It almost seemed like the city hadn't registered that the seasons were starting to change, and Olivia King did not mind this whatsoever.

Currently, she was wondering the city by herself, hands tucked in her pockets. Sunyshore was easily one of the bigger cities in the entire Sinnoh region, with its highly advanced technology, engineered by Volkner of the Elite Four and the Sunyshore gym leader Tyson. The city had advanced exponentially from how it was when Galactic burst onto the scenes decades ago. The city was now filled with skyscrapers that pierced the sky, with other tall buildings. The main selling point of Sunyshore, though, had been its ability to bring in tourists everywhere, despite the large amount of locals there too. Being a hotspot for vacations, the city was always filled to the brim with people.

Due to the night sky above her head, Olivia still managed to bump into people on her way to where she was going. As she went on, however, Olivia King had a slightly dejected look on her face, staring at the ground. She avoided the gaze of the people she was walking past, despite the fact that they weren't even looking at her.

 _How did we lose?_

That was the only thought in her head as the moon and the stars shined above her head. The atmosphere that was created by the luminescent objects in the sky played off Olivia's dejected mood very well, as she looked up and sighed. She appeared to have bags under her eyes when she glanced up, too, further showing the stress she experienced.

The more Olivia wondered Sunyshore, the less people were on the streets. However, this did not change her mood much. She was still aimlessly walking with the same mood as before, nothing changing.

 _How was his Feraligatr so strong? The way he maneuvered around Goodra's attacks and countered them, with mere power is unbelievable._

There were so many questions in her head, but she did not know how to answer any of them. After she was done thinking about the Feraligatr, her mind turned to the Pokemon's trainer, which caused Olivia to shake her head in a dissatisfied manner.

 _And her trainer, though_ , Olivia went on in her head. _How is he so skilled? There's no way he's a normal gym leader…_ Olivia visioned the unsatisfied look on Silver's face as they battled, the way he delivered his commands with such dullness behind his voice, and how he had quick counters for each and every move she made.

 _His ability to command his Pokemon is absurd,_ was the only was she could get the images into thoughts. _Every time I thought I had him against the ropes, he just came right back at me._

Olivia continued walking in the hot night, the only light being produced from the streetlights. In the vague light, though, she spotted a lone bench and decided to sit down. Upon sitting down, she eyed down the stars, her thoughts still centered around her battle around Silver.

Olivia didn't know what to think about Silver's strength as she started at the night sky. More importantly, however, she didn't know how to accept her loss.

"Why? Wallace wasn't that difficult to beat back in Hoenn, and he was the last gym leader." Olivia said aloud quietly. "What made Silver so different then?"

Olivia rested her head in her hands and shook her head even more. The battle between her and Silver happened a week ago, and it was still on her mind.

"Do I even deserve my contract here if he made such quick work of me? Do I deserve to compete with people like Brett and Brooke?" Olivia sighed even more, as she started to tear up. "No matter how hard I work, I always fall short," she ranted to herself. "I'll never be as good as my competition…"

 _I'll never achieve what I want… I'll never be great…_

The more negative thoughts Olivia put in her mind, the more tears she poured out. The more she cried, the more she thought she was pathetic and helpless. It was a seemingly endless cycle of putting herself down.

"L-look at me," Olivia said to herself. "I'm worthless, and I should've just quit when I was to-"

"Olivia? Is that you?"

Olivia King looked around, completely startled by the fact that someone heard what she was saying. She made sure that she wondered Sunshore until there was barely anybody outside walking around, so she could say these things. Olivia didn't realize that people would still be out wondering, but this person also happened to know her, and the voice sound very familiar and recent.

"You good?"

Olivia saw the outline of a tall boy around her age. Through the darkness, she could make out a head of messy brown hair and bright green eyes. She squinted her eyes and gasped upon realizing who was in front of her.

"T-Thomas?"

"Olivia!"

Olivia instantly shot up from her seat and walked over to Thomas, who was just as surprised to see her. The two didn't waste time before starting a conversation, despite the late time.

"What are you doing here?"

"I decided to travel to Sinnoh. I felt like it was the most reasonable choice for my training career."

"Well, that's good, I guess," Olivia started before her voice trailed off. _If he's gonna be in the Sinnoh League t-_

"But you obviously aren't good, Olivia. I heard what you were saying earlier," Thomas commented, starting right through her. "What happened? Even if I'm your rival, you're still a great friend of mine."

Olivia shook her head, and Thomas barely noticed it.

"It's nothing," she said simply. "You have better things to worry about than me being upset. You should be training right now." Olivia sighed loudly before adding on, "The gym leader here isn't a pushover."

Thomas made a noise of realization as a lightbulb went off in his head.

"You're really upset about losing a gym battle, huh?"

Olivia shook her head once more before responding in a low, almost incomprehensible, tone.

"It's not that…"

"Then what is it?" Thomas quickly asked in response, not giving up. He was determined to get a helpful response from Olivia.

After Thomas asked this, another image of Silver's Feraligatr appeared in her mind. His face was ruthless and unforgiving, his blue scales were almost as sharp as knives, and his eyes had a fearless look in them. Everything about the Feraligatr was just scary to Olivia. Then, there was also the cold look Silver had in his eyes when he was commanding said Feraligatr. It was almost as if he did not feel any remorse for her Goodra as Feraligatr exploded onto him with his endless assault.

Olivia tried to open her mouth to speak, but she didn't know how to explain the situation to Thomas.

 _Do I tell him about the Feraligatr,_ she thought. _It sounds dumb, but that thing is no normal Pokemo-_

"Olivia? Hello?"

"Do you know who Silver is?"

Olivia could faintly see Silver's jaw drop wide when she said the name.

"Wait, hold on, did you say _Silver?_ " Thomas asked, almost rhetorical. Olivia nodded her head to his question, which caused Thomas' jaw to drop. Thomas was visibly surprised when she revealed that she met Silver, with his jaw seemingly dropping to the floor and her eyes opened incredibly wide. "You know who Silver is, right?"

Shaking her head, Olivia responded, "No, not really, Thomas. All I know is that he's a dick, is the gym leader of some city and Johto." Olivia sighed before continuing her sentence, staring at the ground. "And has an extremely strong Feraligatr."

If Thomas could open his mouth any further, he would have upon hearing what Olivia said. Olivia glanced at Thomas, though, and was somewhat confused as to why he was so surprised about what she was saying. The only thing she could think of was that there was much more to this Silver person.

"Olivia, I just want to say that you battled one of the strongest Pokemon trainers of the past thirty years," Thomas said in a serious tone. "If you're upset about losing to him, please don't be. His Feraligatr is easily in the top twenty of strongest trained Pokemon, and the number of accolades that Silver has under his belt is incredible, and these don't even take into account that he was easily Gold's greatest rival."

"Wait a minute, you're talking about _the_ Gold, right? Like the one who defeated Red on Mount Silver?" Olivia asked, before Thomas answered with a nod, not even bothering to say anything. "Oh my God," was all she could spit out.

"Yeah, it's crazy, Olivia," Thomas said, with a loud exhale, "but seriously, you need to get to sleep. It's getting late out, and moping around on a bench isn't gonna do you any good." Olivia could barely make out a white grin on Thomas' face, which drew an eye roll from her. "Let me walk you back to your place. After all the times I beat you back in Hoenn, it's the least I can do," Thomas said with a laugh, attempting to lighten up the mood even more.

"Just this once, Thomas, alright?" Olivia said with a shrug. "But if you say one more stupid thing like 'after all the times I beat you,' I won't hesitate to put you in your place, just like old times," she responded with a light tease, and it was his turn to roll his eyes. "I do appreciate it, though, so thank you."

Thomas gave her a nod before saying, "It's no problem, Olivia. I have some things to do here, so it won't hurt to be a little late."

Olivia couldn't help but wonder what Thomas had to do this late at night, but she just waved it off, giving Thomas a thankful smile. He didn't need to go out of his way for her, but he did.

"Alright then, it's settled," Olivia said. "Just follow me. My apartment shouldn't be that far from where we are now."

The two continued talking for a short while, before Olivia had begun to lead Thomas to her apartment. Since their confrontation, the sky remained as dark as it was before, the only things lighting up the sky being the many bright stars and the white, full moon.

 **X.x.X**

 _Snowpoint City, Sinnoh_

 _September 11th, 2032_

"Well, here we go."

Brooke, taking large breaths with her hands in her white coat pockets, was standing in front of a large, white hexagonal building with a large Pokeball design above its blue-colored glass doors. The building was covered with snow as it had been snowing for the past few hours. With the snow, however, that would mean it would be cold, _very_ cold.

"I hope it isn't too cold inside of the gym," Brooke said to herself as she made her way to the glass doors. She pressed her hand on the door, closed her eyes, and gave herself a confident nod. _It's been a while, but we should be good. I prepared well_. Ending her thoughts, Brooke opened the door to reveal the inside.

The inside of the gym had been a massive, pure ice field, with various stone pillars that reached the ceiling surrounding said ice field. Surrounding the field, however, there were purple stands that had a decent amount of people in them, which Brooke was used to, so she didn't mind. The field itself, though, had many sharp clusters of ice sticking up from the ground. However, it was nothing Brooke hadn't prepared for, and plus she had experience with these kinds of fields.

 _Very similar to Rachel's gym back in Johto,_ she noted to herself. _Hopefully, it breaks the exact same._ Brooke had a slight smirk on her face as she continued on. She then glanced across the field and spotted a familiar person, and her facial expression then turned into something more serious.

"Hey Candice!" Brooke practically yelled across the gym.

"Hi Brooke!" Candice returned as she slid gracefully across the ice separating the two. Once she stepped off the ice, she walked over to Brooke and extended her hand with a smile. "It's good to finally see you here," she said, shaking Brooke's hand. "I'm assuming you want to get right into it, though?"

Brooke gave Candice a confident nod as she spoke.

"Yes, that would be very nice." As if on cue, when Brooke finished speaking, an official dressed in a black and white striped jacket walked to his officiating spot. "He's a little late, isn't he?" Brooke commented with a laugh.

"Eh, he's new, so it's fine," Candice said with a laugh of her own. "Anyway, good luck Brooke, and here's to a phenomenal match!" she exclaimed as she slid across the ice once more.

When Candice was skating back, though, Brooke was analyzing the field, with a thoughtful look on her face.

 _If we want our plan to work, we're gonna have to do a little renovating then_ , Brooke thought with a small shrug.

As Brooke was thinking about the upcoming match, though, the referee brought her back into reality real quick.

"This will be a six-on-six match between challenger Brooke Winters from Pallet Town and Candice Suzuna from Snowpoint City. The first trainer who manages to knock out the opposing trainer's team of six will be declared the winner, but only the challenging party will be able to substitute. Do you both agree with these rules?" Once the official saw them both nod, he continued, "then trainers, send out your first Pokemon!"

"Tyranitar, let's give them a show!"

Brooke threw her Pokeball forward, and a blue light exploded from it. Almost instantly, it revealed the towering, eight feet tall Tyranitar, who let out a booming roar. With the roar, the field was instantly covered in a thick sandstorm, small, sharp rocks clearly visible. The sandstorm was already putting the invisible psychic barriers surrounding the field to the test as the sandstorm created an almost perfect cube around the battlefield. Even inside of the sandstorm, Tyranitar seemed very anxious to battle, stretching his stubby arms and wide neck.

"Well Brooke, I'm certainly impressed of your Tyranitar, actually seeing it in person," Candice spoke, "but we certainly were prepared for this!" Candice readied a Pokeball from her belt and smirked. "Mamoswine, crush them!"

Much like before, Candice threw the Pokeball and, from a blue light, came out the Mamoswine, whose size wasn't one to scoff at a near nine feet tall and easily weighed over one thousand pounds. It's tusks appeared to be incredibly strong too, with their equally as massive size. The Mamoswine seemed to be trained well as shown by not even being fazed by the sandstorm even with being a Ground-type.

 _Well, I was not expecting this to be her lead,_ Brooke thought to herself as Candice set up Stealth Rocks, which Brooke wasn't too worried about. _I don't really want to waste my switch, so we'll just have to duke it out._

"Let's keep it simple, bud! Hit him with a Rock Slide-Two!"

Tyranitar let out a roar before stomping on the ground, immediately cracking the ice. Rocks were summoned above Mamoswine's head, but these were incredibly close together and large, and they also fell fast.

 _Let's see how fast he is_ , Brooke observed. Right now, she was simply getting a feel for Candice and her Pokemon, seeing how she would react.

"Mamoswine, take it with Curse and rush him with Iron Strength!"

Mamoswine let out a roar and instantly started to glow a dark red color with a blue tint, signaling boosts in his attack and defense stats and a decrease in his speed stat. After this, though, the rocks poured down onto his back like rain, but the look on his face wasn't impressed as the rocks just fell off, causing the ice to crack. However, he immediately began to glow a metallic red color, and charged towards Tyranitar, surprisingly fast, even with the speed decrease.

"Tyranitar, meet him with a Fire Fang!"

It was a simple call but Tyranitar's mouth was set ablaze as he let out a battle cry of his own and sprinted towards Mamoswine at a pace seemingly doubling Mamoswine's speed. The two met in the middle, but Mamoswine launched himself into Tyranitar, but even with the super-effective damage, he stood his ground and then bit down on the fur next to Mamoswine's pink nose. However, he didn't seem to be affected, but Brooke continued the assault.

"Dark Pulse!"

Instantly, with the fire remaining in his mouth, Tyranitar released his bite, but charged up a Dark Pulse quickly. Before Candice could even counteract, he fired it off, sending Mamoswine back.

"Ice-Earthquake!"

 _Yes,_ Brooke thought to herself. She was clearly thinking of something and this was playing right into her strategy.

"Earthquake!"

Mamoswine stomped on the ground and sent large pillars of ice right towards Tyranitar, but Tyranitar countered with a roar and stomp of his right foot, and pillars of earth, double the size of the ice pillars, were sent right towards Mamoswine. The earth pillars crashed right through the ice pillars, causing ice to fly everywhere, and hit Mamoswine, taking him to the ground. With the Earthquake attacks and Mamoswine falling to the ground, the ice on the ground cracked even more.

"While he's down, let's destroy the ice even more! Rock Slide-One!"

Tyranitar roared out loud once more and large rocks started to fall across the entire battlefield. After a good five seconds, the field was almost completely destroyed of ice, with only a few spots remaining. What replaced the ice, though, were massive rocks and cracks in the ground, and Brooke smirked as the sandstorm raged on.

"Welcome to my field, Candice!" Brooke cried out and Tyranitar yelled as Mamoswine struggled to his four feet. "Now while Mamoswine's trying to get up, plow right through the rocks and Iron Head!"

Tyranitar let out a booming roar before his skull glew a bright silver color, appearing as if it had a metal coating over it. Tyranitar sprinted extremely low to the ground and charged forward. On the way to the Mamoswine, who was almost at his feet, he crashed right through a massive rock, but that didn't stop him as he let out another cry. Seconds later, he plowed right into Mamoswine, which had sent him backwards despite all the defense boosts.

"Mamoswine! Retaliate with an Ice Fang!"

Mamoswine didn't make any noise, but instead opened his mouth wide, his sharp teeth freezing over with frost being visible from his breath. He charged Tyranitar at a much slower speed, but Brooke smirked.

"Dark Fire Fang!" Brooke ordered, tossing a hand to the side.

Tyranitar didn't pet out a roar this time, much like his opponent, but his mouth opened wide immediately combusting into a pitch black fire. Tyranitar started to sprint low again, much like before, but he closed the distance between him and Mamoswine quickly. The two behemoths met and both had bit each other. Tyranitar was bitten on his right arm, which started to freeze over, while Mamoswine was bitten on the center of his face with his fur catching fire. As a result, they both had cried out in pain, but Tyranitar seemed to be affected more, which perplexed Brooke.

As the two Pokemon struggled for control, Brooke asked, "How is Mamoswine so durable?"

"In a battle like this, I don't reveal my cards that easily Brooke. You should know better," Candice responded, completely engaged in the battle. "Now Mamoswine, Iron Head!"

"MAMO!" Mamoswine roared as he reared his head back, before sending it into Tyranitar's chest.

The attack had completely caught Brooke off guard as Tyranitar was sent flying backwards and ended up landing right in front of Brooke. Due to dust rising from the impact and the sandstorm, it was impossible to see how Tyranitar was affected, but he was unresponsive. Seconds later, the dust settled and the sandstorm subsided, revealing Tyranitar collapsed on the ground his eyes shut tight.

"Tyranitar is unable to continue!" the official called before turning to Brooke. "Ms. Winters, please send out your next Pokemon!"

Brooke nodded, and she returned Tyranitar to his Pokeball, whispering something incomprehensible. Not wasting any time, however, she readied another Pokeball, not appearing fazed by the sudden knockout of her Pokemon.

"This is just getting started, Candice!" Brooke yelled from across the destroyed ice field. "We're far from over here."

"Well, I'll be happy to see whatever tricks you have ready for me," Candice said. "Bring it on, Brooke, and don't hold back!"

"Trust me, holding back is the last thing on my mind," she said with a smirk, tossing her Pokeball up catching it. "Ninetails, bring the heat! Let's go!"

 **X.x.X**

 _Hearthome City, Sinnoh_

 _September 11th, 2032_

The Hearthome City gym was currently set ablaze with rays of light seeping through the ceiling. In what normally was a near dark and dull room, the battlefield was alive, almost as if there was a sun lighting up the entire room. With that, however, came the unbearable heat that had been produced, causing both men in the room to be drenched in sweat.

"I must say, Brett, I am quite surprised with the strength of your team," a tall, slim, pale man with pitch black hair said from the far side of the gym.

"I appreciate that a lot Simon, but," Brett started, with a smirk on his face, "I'm afraid that this battle is coming to a close!"

Above the burning battlefield, there was a massive Charizard flying in place, a bloodthirsty look on its bright orange face. However, this Charizard wasn't any normal Charizard. This one had three orange horns on the back of his head and massive wings, each with two large points coming from the top of them. His most notable feature, though, was the iconic tail flame that was a dark orange color and much larger than that of a normal Charizard. Across the Charizard, however, was an exhausted Gengar, but similarly to Brett's Charizard, this one had a much more different appearance. Simon's Gengar had part of his body sinking into the ground with massive arms and a large yellow eye on his forehead.

"Charizard! End this with a Fire Blast!"

Charizard let out a booming roar and opened his mouth wide. Almost instantaneously, bright orange fire had begun to build inside and, with a thrust of his head, Charizard sent the Fire Blast attack straight towards Gengar at an incredibly fast rate.

"Shadow Ball, Gengar!"

The call was almost desperate, but Gengar immediately obliged forming a large, dark sphere of spectral energy and sent it towards the Fire Blast, with the hopes of canceling out the attack. However, what was intended did not happen as the two attacks collided.

The Fire Blast literally swallowed the Shadow Ball attack and rushed at a faster pace towards Gengar. When the attack struck Gengar in the front, an explosion of fire had went off, and Gengar was caught right in the center of it. If it hadn't been for the barrier surrounding the battlefield, the impact surely would have reached both Simon and Brett. As the explosion died out and the dust settles, though, what was left was Gengar, reverted back to his normal form, laying facedown on the ground clearly down for the count.

Silently, Simon recalled Gengar back into his Pokeball and muttered some words of encouragement to it as he clipped it back on to his belt with a nod. Still not saying a word, Simon walked over to Brett, who had also recalled his Charizard, from across the field and stuck his hand out with a smile.

"Good match, Brett," he said as Brett nodded, accepting the gesture. "As per League rules, I will reward you with the Relic Badge." Staying true to his word, he reached into his dark blue jean's pocket and pulled out the badge, which Brett took. "Keep training, too. You and all your team each have big futures if you keep this up."

"Thank you," Brett said nodding. "If we get the chance, though, we should definitely have another battle. It was really fun, Simon."

Simon smirked upon hearing Brett's response, with a nod of his own.

"Of course, Brett. I will definitely like to get a rematch," Simon said. "You are indeed a strong trainer, and I would want to see how I fair against with more training."

The two exchanged more small talk before Brett shook Simon's hand once more, recalled his Charizard, and turned to leave. However, as soon as he turned to leave, there were loud explosions going off in the we do meet again, I'd love to have another battle with you. You're a great trainer yourself."

Simon smiled at what Brett said about him. As a gym leader, they don't really get too many compliments from aspiring trainers, so it was nice hearing them once in a while.

"I will definitely like a rematch," Simon said, "but next time, things will be different. Just because I am a gym leader, that does not mean that you up-and-coming trainers can walk right over me."

"I'm glad to hear that," Brett responded with a confident look on his face. "My team and I are always ready for challenges, and you definitely proved that you are one."

"Once more, Brett, when I am ab-"

 _ **BOOM**_!

Simon was cut off by a loud explosion that echoed throughout the air for a solid twenty seconds. From the inside of the gym, screams could be heard almost as if they were in the same room. Brett readied a Pokeball from his belt and Simon cursed aloud.

"What the hell what that?"

"I don't know, Simon, but we have to do somet-"

 _ **BOOOOOOM**_!

This time, another explosion went off, but despite how loud the one before was, this one seemed even closer. Seconds after, the walls around the gym were starting to collapse, and Simon yelled to Brett and told him to follow. Brett nodded and the two ran out of the gym as pieces of the ceiling started to fall to the ground. Within seconds, it was almost impossible to traverse what was left of the gym, due to the rising dust.

"Brett! Can you hear me?!"

"Yeah, Simon! We need to get out of here before this entire building collapses!"

The two continued running out of the gym as the walls started to fall to the ground. The noise that they made was probably as loud as the explosion that causes this, but they continued to sprint as fast as humanly possible. By this time, the ceiling was done falling and was completely gone, allowing light to enter the building from the top.

"Brett, I see the exit! We have to get out quick!" Simon called out as he continued to sprint.

Simon and Brett barged out of what was left to the entrance of the Hearthome City gym. As soon as they exited, the rest of the building collapsed to the ground and the sheer impact of the walls hitting the ground took them both off their feet, covered in dust. Simon landed on the ground fine, but Brett was a different story. He had landed on his left elbow and his body weight went crashing on to it, resulting in a loud crack.

"Fuck!" he exclaimed as he laid on the sidewalk. Brett immediately saw his elbow and realized that it was shifted to the side. He tried to lift up his arm and felt immense pain come from his shoulder. "Ahhh!"

Simon immediately rushed over to Brett's side and knelt down besides him, shock in his eyes.

"Shit, shit, shit," he said to himself as he looked down at Brett, whose left arm was left limp with an awkward twist at the elbow. "W-we have to get you to the hospi-"

"Don't worry about me!" Brett yelled, wincing in pain. He struggled to stand up but managed to stand up, when he pushed himself up with his right arm. Standing up straight, though, his left arm was hanging extremely low and it was clear to see that his shoulder was separated. "We have to find whoever did this, Simon!"

"There is no 'we' involved in this!" Simon yelled, ridiculing Brett. "You are in zero condition to fight! We need to get you to a hospital, Brett!"

Brett shook his head adamantly and reached for a Pokeball on his belt with his right arm. He grabbed the Pokeball, but before he could throw it, there was a shock of pain in his left shoulder. Wincing, he dropped the Pokeball to the ground and fell back to the ground. As soon as the Pokeball hit the ground, though, there was another explosion and even more screams in the distance.

"What the fuck is going on!?" Simon yelled out. He reached for his phone and took it out, and immediately started to dial a number. As he waited for an answer, Brett was grunting in pain holding his shoulder with his right hand.

"Hello?" a feminine voice could be heard from the phone.

"Are you seeing this right now! Hearthome is under attack, and I need back-up!" Simon practically yelled into his phone. "I am not joking right now! I have an injured trainer with me, and I need to get him to a hospital. Just please, Candice, come by."

With that, Simon rushed over to Brett and saw his Pokeball on the ground.

"Brett, I am getting you out of here," Simon said but soon realized that Brett was unconscious on the ground.

He picked up the Pokeball and immediately released the Pokemon that was inside. In a flash of blue light, Charizard appeared and started to look around. He saw Brett on the ground and turned to Simon, flame spewing out of his nostrils.

 **"CHARRRR!"**

Simon put his hands up in the defensive and began to speak as Charizard approached him, tail flame burning bright.

"Charizard, please listen to me. I had nothing to do with this, but Hearthome was attacked, and Brett got hurt," Simon explained, hands still raised, as he panted heavily. Charizard stopped moving towards Simon, and listened to what he was saying. "I need you to fly Brett to somewhere safe, so he does not get himself hurt, okay?"

Simon walked over to Brett and clipped Charizard's Pokeball to his belt as he stepped away upon seeing Charizard snarling at him. Charizard walked over to Brett, picked him up rather quickly into his claws, and flew off at mach speeds.

"Now, we get to the real problem," Simon said as he unclipped a Pokeball from his belt. "Gengar, come o-"

Simon was interrupted by a blast of fire coming right towards him, and he immediately ducked upon reaction, barely avoiding the attack. Simon looked towards the direction of the attack and gasped at what he saw.

"H-Heatran?!"

About ten feet in front of him, there it was, the legendary Fire-type Pokemon, with a bright red glow in its eyes. Its magma-based body was burning bright, and it was closing the distance between him and Simon, who was instinctively backing away, gripping his Gengar's Pokeball tight. With every step, though, Heatran grumbled loudly, and small fire came out with every breath.

"Estoy decepcionado con tú," a man said as he appeared from behind Heatran. "You're supposed to be the gym leader here, but you didn't even put up a defense. It was too easy, Simon, too easy," he continued almost mocking him. "I bet your mother would've put up more of a fight, hombre."

The man was incredibly tall and slim and wore a black trenchcoat and hat, with a pair of dark jeans and brown boots. Every single feature the mad had was covered by some article of clothing or shade.

"What do you mean by that?!" Simon yelled, preparing to send Gengar out, but the man ignored him. "Who are you?!"

"Eres patético. Voy a disfrutar esto… mucho," the man mumbled as he pointed forward. "Heatran, finish him now! Rapido! Magma Storm!"

Heatran didn't say a word as it immediately obliged, lifting its front legs up and preparing to stomp on the ground. However, just before Heatran could execute the command, it was interrupted.

"Brick Break."

A flash of yellow and black immediately ran to Heatran and struck it with a brown-glowing fist sending it flying back. When everything was clear, a massive Electivire stood before Simon and the man, coursing over with electricity.

"Simon, I got this," a masculine voice called out from where Electivire came from. When Simon recognized who it was, his mouth dropped to the floor. "Go find the civilians, and help anyone injured." The voice was incredibly blunt, and the tone was commanding.

"Paul Shinji?"

Paul didn't seem in the mood to exchange greetings as he yelled at Simon, who was still in shock from this situation.

"I said to go help the people hurt!" he yelled at Simon, who nodded and immediately rushed off. Once Simon was gone, Paul cracked his neck and stared at the man who was next to Heatran. "Now, you're going to regret doing this."

"Muy bien, muy bien!" the man exclaimed. "I wasn't expecting this, Mr. Shinji, but very well. If you want to go down this path, then so be it."

"I'm not here to talk, you bastard! You caused enough harm to this city, and I'm putting an end to this!" Paul yelled, anger in his voice. "Electivire, Thunder now!"

"Heatran, Flash Cannon!"

The two attacks were shot, and in a collision of white and yellow, another explosion was caused. In the dust, both Heatran and Electivire stood tall and looked at each other. Heatran had no emotion in its expression, but Electivire was fueled by rage and frustration.

"I hope you prove to be a challenge, Mr. Shinji. I always wanted to battle someone on my caliber."

"If you want a challenge, you'll get a challenge," Paul muttered as his fists were clenched tight. "I hope you're satisfied when you're sitting in prison, you psychopath!"

"That's only if you can beat me, Paul," the mad reminded him. "I know how disappointed Dawn will be when she hears that you failed to stop this." The man laughed on as Paul grunted in frustration.

"Thunder Punch, Electivire!"

"Oh, right back at it? Bueno entonces," the man said. "Heatran, let him come!"

Electivire charged forward, both of his fists coursed over in electricity, towards Heatran. Once in range, Electivire swung both of his fists, but the attack didn't seem to do much damage to Heatran, who stood there unfazed by the attack.

"Send him flying! Flamethrower!"

On command, Heatran released a stream of searing hot fire that crashed into Electivire, completely devouring him in flames. The impact of the attack sent him flying towards Paul, but Electivire pushed himself up from the ground, shrugging off the attack with a smirk.

"Don't worry, the real battle is just beginning," the man said as he cracked his knuckles. "Espero que estés listo!"

"Bring it! I'm not gonna let you sit there and talk, acting like you know my family!" Paul yelled, pointing towards the man. "Your move, bitch!"

 **X.x.X**

 _Canalave City, Sinnoh_

 _September 11th, 2032_

"Guys, are you seeing what's happening right now?"

"What's happening, Lenny?"

"Lindsey, Hearthome City was just attacked, and it was reported that there were three different bombs set off."

"Are you serious?"

"Michael, I'm being completely serious right now."

The trio was currently seated at a table in Canalave's main eatery, the Seafood Shack. The aura was quite calm, but the TV immediately switched to an emergency broadcast, and everyone's attention perked to the screen.

Cynthia was seated at a desk in her office at the Pokemon League Facility, and she had a solemn, yet professional, expression on her face as her hands were clasped together on the desk. There was no paper or anything; this was completely raw, but she still appeared confident. Before she said anything, though, a few people whispered, wondering what was so important. She cleared her throat, and the whispers immediately quieted down.

"Attention, the people of Sinnoh," Cynthia started, her expression not changing, "I would like to inform you that there has been an attack on our Hearthome City." At this, people started to whisper again, but Cynthia still continued on as it was a broadcast. "We, at the Pokemon League Facility, do not know who or what caused this attack, if it is related to the Adamant Orb being stolen, or the motives behind whoever caused this.

"However, what we can say is that this matter will be taken care of accordingly. We can assure you, the people of Sinnoh, that we are working towards finding out who is behind this attack, and the Adamant Orb situation," Cynthia said, her expression remaining serious. "We will not allow this situation to expand into another Team Galactic situation. We, as a region, will take care of this, and in order for us to do this, we need each person watching this program to not be outraged by this.

"We need to be a strong region," Cynthia said. "We need to be united by this tragic event and not be separated. This situation does not involve just the League; this is a situation that involves each and every person in Sinnoh. We need to unite as people and put an end to this. We cannot have these attacks be spread regionwide. We, together and united, have to put an end to this," she continued, her voice rising with a tone of urgency. "If anybody watching this knows something that we don't, inform us. It is better for us to know, so this can be stopped.

"With your help, whoever is behind this attack will be stopped," Cynthia ended, determination in her voice. "Thank you for listening, and remember, you all have a say in stopping this. Stay safe."

A few seconds after, what Cynthia said had finally sunk in, and many people reacted in different ways.

"They aren't gonna do jack shit about this!" one man yelled, slamming down on a table.

"This is it! We're done!" a woman cried out, sobbing. "We have to get the fuck out of here!"

"No, we need to take action about this!" a male yelled from across the Seafood Shack. "Our little pacifist government isn't gonna work here! First, they take the Adamant Orb, and now they attack our cities! We, as citizens, have to take matters into our own hands!"

This continued on for a few more minutes before Michael shook his head and muttered to himself, with a sigh. Lindsey put her arm around Michael, and whispered something into his ear, squeezing his shoulder in reassurance. Michael nodded to what Lindsey said, and he gave her a small smile.

"Michael, we need to do something about this," Lenny said from across the table, but Lindsey interjected before Michael could respond.

"Lenny, I don't want to come off as rude or anything, but to be quite honest, Michael doesn't have to do anything," she told him quite sternly. "It isn't really your place to dictate what he does, and y-"

"To be fair, Lindsey, it isn't your place either," Lenny said. "Michael is his own person, and he can do what he pleases. I get your his girlfriend, but you didn't experience what we went through in Iron Island. If we weren't there, things could've been much worse than us getting hurt."

Lindsey was visibly frustrated by what Lenny said.

"Lenny, do not tell me I didn't experience what you all went through. It might've not been the same scenario, but Michael and I almost _died_ back in Kalos with what we went through," she said, shutting Lenny up. "With all due respect, you don't know what we had to go through, and I'm not letting Michael go through something like that again!"

"I understand that, Lindsey, don't get me wrong, but I hope you know that we stopped Ajax and Z from killing anyone! They might have gotten away with the Adamant Orb, but we stopped them from harming any citizens! We cannot just sit here and let them terrorize this re-"

"Lenny, I think it's best if you just take things from our perspective," Michael suddenly spoke up. "I understand that you think that we're capable of stopping this, but you have to get that Lindsey and I have been in something similar to this. If it wasn't for her father, we could've very well been dead right now as she just said," he said, shaking his head. "I made that same mistake in Kalos. I thought I was all that, and I tried to intervene in something that was beyond me."

Lindsey nodded at what Michael was saying as she placed her hand on his thigh.

"Michael, who else can stop this?" Lenny asked. "We know that the League doesn't have the beat track record of stopping things like this. For fuck's sake, we were taught in school that three _kids_ stopped the Galactic situation! We cannot just sit idle and not do nothing, man!"

"Lenny, I'm not getting myself involved in this!" Michael said, slamming his hand on the table. He took a deep breath before continuing, though. "Lindsey literally came all the way over here to prevent me from doing these things, and I am not putting her in harm's way, end of story. I appreciate that you were by my side during the Iron Island ordeal, but we should let the League take care of this."

Lenny stood up from his seat and bent over table, looking directly into Michael's eyes.

"Michael, there is no way that you can be okay when more of these attacks can just happen!"

"Lenny, I think it's best if you back away," Michael said, shaking his head. "What Lindsey and I decide to do isn't any of your concern, so please respect that."

"I'm respecting your decision, but I'm just saying that _we_ can make a difference in this. Cynthia literally just told us, the people of Sinnoh, to do so-"

It was Michael's turn to stand up from his seat and stare Lenny dead in his eyes.

"Lenny!" he cried out. "Please, just stop talking about this, okay? If you want to get involved in this, then so be it, but I'm not risking my life again. I'm not risking my life in order to play hero, okay? I'm only human, not a superhero!"

"Michael, I think it's just best if we take our leave, okay?" Lindsey suggested, not wanting any further altercation to occur. When Michael didn't answer, she said more sternly, " _Babe, come on."_

"Okay, okay," he said, looking at Lindsey. He turned his attention to Lenny and sighed. "I respect that you're willing to put your life on the line for this region, but I can't do it again. I hope you understand that Lenny."

"It was good meeting you, Lenny, and as Michael said, we really do hope you get it," Lindsey said as she led Michael out of the table.

When the two were gone, Lenny sat back down at the table alone, with a sigh. He turned towards the TV, which was now displaying an overview of the aftermath of Hearthome. It said that the gym, contest hall, and church were all destroyed and estimated a death count of over five-hundred people. Watching the news broadcast, he shook his head.

"I have to do something about this…"

He continued watching the TV, where it suddenly skipped to a real-time battle in Hearthome City.

"What the fuck?" he asked himself quietly as he scanned what was going on.

On the television, there was a massive Electivire battling with what seemed like a Heatran, who was now using a Magma Storm attack. Behind the Heatran, though, was a tall man wearing a hat and mostly black clothes, but all of his facial features were hidden. By the Electivire, who just avoided the Magma Storm, there was a very familiar trainer, with an angry look on his face.

"Paul Shinji?!"

"Yeah, that's Paul alright," a man said to Lenny.

Lenny immediately turned to the speaker and gasped upon who is was.

"Byron! I'm glad to see that you're okay!"

"Likewise, Lenny," he said, with a smile. "I also happened to overhear your conversation with Michael, and it's good to see that there are still trainers who are willing to fight for this region." Byron took a seat across from Lenny and smirked. "Now, let's hear what you got."

* * *

 **There we have it! Chapter five is in the books, and I hope you all enjoyed. With what happened, though, as I mentioned, it was all coincidence**. **It just happened so that** **the date and the event lined up, and I really didn't want to change it as it would mess up the chronological progression of the plot. I, in no way, support what happened on 9/11, and despite it almost being twenty years in the future, spread my condolences to anyone who might have been affected by the events. With that out of the way, however, a lot of things happened. To start, Olivia is back and her match against Silver really did a number on her in their battle. However, she met with Thomas, a rival during her Hoenn journey, and he'll be a big part in getting her on track. Moving on, Brooke had her battle with Candice, and while it is unknown whether she won or lost, I'd like to think I did a good job on it. If anyone wanted it to be longer, I'm sorry, but I don't want to oversaturate my story with six-on-six battles. Brett also won in his battle against Hearthome City gym leader, Simon, rather convincingly with his Charizard, but sadly Hearthome got attacked right after. I hope you all liked the inclusion I did with Paul at the end, though. He is a major character in this, and his business in Sinnoh isn't exactly over. Moving on, though, Lenny, Lindsey, and Michael had a huge argument which didn't end up too well, but Byron pulled up to make things better. Anyway, for those who want to answer, I have a few questions!**

 **1: Overall thoughts on the chapter? I thought I did fairly well on it, but I still would love to know your opinions!**

 **2: Who is the man with the Heatran, and what does he want? Side note, but I thought it was cool to have him speak Spanish, so what did you think about that?**

 **3: What do you think's gonna happen with Brett? I mean, he was pretty set on defending Hearthome, but he got taken out against his will. How do you think he's gonna react?**

 **4: What do you think Lenny and Byron are gonna do? How are they gonna respond to the attack on Hearthome?**

 **5: What's up with Michael? With what happened at Iron Island, you'd think he'd be first in line to defend Sinnoh. What do you all think of Lindesy and her reaction, too? Last chapter, some people didn't seem too confident about her character, but I hope I cleared some things up.**


	6. Chapter 6 - The Unexpected

**Well, chapter six! First chapter of the summer, and I am very motivated to write, so expect a decent amount of updates in the coming weeks! There isn't really too much to sat, expect for I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as I did writing it. I had a lot of fun! I hope you all reading can take the time out to drop a review when you're done as it helps me improve my writing and the overall quality of the story. Again, hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter Six – The Unexpected**_

 _Snowpoint City, Sinnoh_

 _September 11th, 2032_

"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit," Candice said to herself, pacing around a room, holding her hands over her head. "What the fuck is going on with this regi-"

" _Candice!_ "

Brooke Winters and Candice were currently in a small, one-floor house on the border of Snowpoint City. The lights were dimmed, and there was currently a fire lit from the fireplace that kept the cozy, wooden house warm. Brooke sat at a table, visibly stressed, but Candice continued pacing around the room.

"Candice, you need to calm down for a second," Brooke said. "If you want to make rational decisions, you need a cool head. I'll make you… hot chocolate or something if you need, but don't panic. Please."

Candice stopped pacing and looked at Brooke, tears stains visible on her pale cheeks.

"B-Brooke, thank you, I'm fine, but I don't know what to do," Candice admitted, her voice very shaky. She walked over to the table and took a seat, her leg shaking. "This is the first time something like this ever happened…"

Brooke nodded and gave Candice a reassuring smile.

"Listen, you need to look at this situation with a cool head first, Candice," Brooke reiterated. "Take a deep breath or something-I don't know-but you're the gym leader of this city, and you have to do what's right for them."

"I know, I know, but Simon asked me to help out, but I can't leave Snowpoint, especially considering the threat of another attack here," Candice said, sighing. "When I was appointed as the Snowpoint gym leader, my number one goal was to keep the people here safe. If I leave, I'm risking an attack here, and there'll be no one hear to help prevent it."

"Candice," Brooke started, with a reassuring smile, "I understand why you feel this way, I get it, but you have to understand that you have to do what _you_ , as a person, think is right." Brooke kept on her neutral expression as she continued on. "If you believe that staying here is right, then stay here and help the people get through this. If you believe that going to Hearthome to help the people there is right, then go to Hearthome."

"Brooke, I know that," Candice said, burying her face in her hands. "That's what I've been thinking for the past hour, but the thing on my mind is if I do end up leaving, another five hundred people could die simply because I'm not here to protect them.

"If that did happen, I wouldn't know what to do with myself…"

Candice had begun to cry again, and Brooke sat there, not knowing what to say, to do, or even to think.

"Candice… stay here in Snowpoint," Brooke suddenly said. It came out of nowhere, but she couldn't take it back. Candice, her eyes stained red, perked up at what Brooke said and she continued. "I-I know we just met, but you're clearly an incredibly selfless person, and you need to be here protecting the people." Candice was about to say something, but Brooke went on. "If it makes your life easier, I'll head out to Hearthome, and I'll help out with the people."

"Brooke," Candice said, "you don't need to get involved with this. You have a bright future ahead of you, and I-"

"Candice, let me go to Hearthome. You have a lot on your mind, and you need to stay here, with your people, protecting them, alright?" Brooke asked, with another smile on her face. "I can go down there, and I can help in anyway I can, okay? I'll let Simon know that you had to stay here, okay?"

"But Broo-"

"Candice, it's fine," Brooke said, nodding. "We're all stressed about this situation, and we all have to do what we can. That's what Cynthia said, right? She wants everyone to help, and this is my way of helping."

Candice sighed and stood up. She walked over to Brooke and gave her a tight hug, which Brooke quickly returned.

"Thank you, Brooke," Candice said, releasing the hug. As she wiped her eyes, she said, "It's funny how my challenger is the one helping me through this situation. I guess you really were deserving of the badge." Candice and Brooke both let out small laughs, before Candice smilled. "Please, stay safe, okay?"

"I will, Candice," Brooke said. "You have my word on that."

The two exchanged goodbyes and Brooke left the small house, leaving Candice to herself. Candice stood in the middle of the house with a smile on her face as she walked back to the kitchen.

"I'm glad that we have people like her in this world," she said to herself as she took a glance at her cabinets. "A hot chocolate does sound nice right now, as well…"

 _ **X.x.X**_

 _Hearthome City, Sinnoh_

 _September 12th, 2032_

"Holy shit," Brooke said to herself upon entering Hearthome City. "They really did a number on this place…"

Looking around, Brooke saw smoke rising from some of the buildings in the city. There were people running around in distress, and it was apparent that the aftermath was not over yet. In the distance, Brooke could make out a broken-down church, and she scowled upon seeing it.

"How could someone do this?"

Turning to her left, she saw a large building that was emitting the most smoke out of all the other buildings. The building seemed to have a circular shape to it, but it was barely recognizable due to the explosion. People were lined up around the building, all of them with a mourning look on their face.

Brooke continued on, with one goal in her mind.

 _I need to find Simon._

She walked around for ten minutes before spotting the Pokemon center, which was surprisingly the building in the best condition. She sprinted towards it and saw a massive line leading to inside. Brooke walked to the back of the line, and in front of her, there was a bulky, tall man, dressed in a white sweatshirt and black pants. Sighing, Brooke grabbed the man's attention with a tap to his shoulder.

"Excuse me?"

The man turned around, and his eyes were stained a deep red color, tears streaming down his face.

"Y-yeah?" the man asked, with a sniffle.

"I'm sorry, but do you know where, uh, Simon is?" Brooke asked, regretting bothering the man immediately.

"The gym leader?" the man asked again, and when Brooke nodded, he continued. "Yeah, h-he's at the hospital right now, helping with the d-doctors."

"Thank you so much, sir, and I'm sorry for what happened here," Brooke said, as the man gave her a nod, continuing to sob.

Brooke left the Pokemon center line, and she started to search for the hospital. She would've asked for directions, but Brooke assumed that everyone would be like the man she had just run into.

 _I feel so bad for everyone here_ , Brooke thought to herself as she continued walking around. _And I thought that Candice had it bad…_

She continued walking for roughly another fifteen minutes, and it was still completely dark out, the city only being lit by the streetlights. Most of the city's people were still out, trying to find loved ones or mourning about their deaths. Brooke continued walking around, still scanning the broken city for the hospital, but she couldn't help but notice rogue Pokemon moping around. The ones that stood out to her the most was a Shinx and a Starly sitting besides a building, both crying, and that itself brought a tear to her eye.

 _Even Pokemon are affected by this… who the hell is sick enough to cause this?_

As Brooke continued walking, she felt even worse about the situation, despite not even being involved with it. Just the environment was enough to put her into a negative mood, but that wasn't going to deter her from what Candice said. With what she was going through, Brooke could not let her down.

"I have to find Simon," Brooke said quietly to herself as she turned a corner.

Upon turning the corner, though, she spotted a large white building with a glowing red cross on it. Brooke smiled to herself as she sprinted to the building. Getting close to it, though, the line getting into the hospital was way larger than the Pokemon center's line. Brooke walked to the back of the line and realized that she was going to be standing here for a while.

Minutes later, however, a figure walked out of the door, but the person was too far away to see any features.

"I'm sorry," the figure started. They had a masculine voice, so Brooke figured the figure was a man. "I know most of you experienced losses today, but the hospital is now closing for the night."

"FUCK YOU, SIMON! "

"I understand your frus-"

"Screw you! My fucking wife died today, Simon!, and it's all your fault!"

"I lost my daughter today, you prick…"

These were some of the comments that were made as the hospital door was shut tight and locked almost immediately. These comments were made for another five minutes as people started to bang on the door, but couldn't barge in. Another five passed and people started to walk away cursing at this Simon person.

Brooke realized that they were talking about the gym leader, and when there was nobody left crowding the hospital, Brooke walked up to the door, taking a deep breath. In a swift motion, though, she knocked on the door and started to speak.

"Simon! I know you're in there!" Brooke started. "You don't know me, but my name is Brooke Winters, and Candice sent me here to talk to you!"

Brooke gave it a minute, and when there was no response, she banged on the door once more.

"Simon! Open the door, please!" Brooke said, in an almost pleading tone. "I was in Snowpoint yesterday, and I challenged Candice for her badge. After, this whole situation happened, and she sent me here to tell you some-"

The door opened once more, and a tall, slim, dark-haired figure appeared before her. His brown eyes appeared completely drained, and there were bags under his eyes. There was ash all over his clothes and hair, so it was almost impossible to make out what he was wearing.

"Show me the badge… please," he said, in an almost commanding tone. Brooke immediately complied, and she took out her badge case, revealing the Icicle Badge. "You can come in." His voice sounded completely drained and exhausted, but that didn't help the fact that he looked like he could pass out at any given moment. "Why did Candice send you, Brooke-was it?" he asked

Brooke nodded as she started to explain, putting th badge case in her pocket.

"Candice sent me because, um, she had to protect the people living in Snowpoint," Brooke said simply. Brooke couldn't help but look at the sheer amount of bodies that were being dragged around the place, both dead and alive. With it actually settling in, though, the actual hospital smelled very, very bad, and Brooke grimaced.

"Is there anything else?" Simon said, his eyes struggling to stay open.

"Uh yeah," Brooke said. "I'm sorry if that sounds inconsiderate, but… just seeing this is a lot to take in." She turned her attention away from what was going on in the hospital and back to Simon. "Anyway, though, Candice really wanted to come, but she was explaining to me that if she left, she didn't want to be the cause of 'five-hundred' more people dying. This really affected her badly."

Simon sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head slowly.

"I should have figured," Simon said, with a dejected tone in his voice. "Candice holds the people of her city very close, and she would beat herself up if anything happened to them." Despite how tired he seemed, he still managed to give Brooke a small, weak smile. "If you could not tell, Brooke, there is a lot more people injured… or dead than what the media would like you to believe." He sighed to himself but continued nonetheless. "I can't help but be frustrated that they'd lie to the public, but I do understand why."

Brooke nodded at Simon's displeasure, and she opened her mouth to say something.

"Well, if you need," Brooke started with a solemn look, "I can help you guys out here. Candice sent me here, and I can't sit here and do nothing. While it might not affect me directly, I still want to assist in anyway I can."

"I appreciate that you came all the way from Snowpoint, but I do not think it is wise for you to help here." Brooke seemed confused by his answer, so Simon elaborated. "What I mean is that there is a lot of things going on here. Things that the normal public should not be seeing."

"Oh," was all Brooke said as she placed an upset look on her face.

"I am sorry, Brooke, and I really am grateful that you want to stay and help," Simon started, sighing after, "but it is more complicated than you think."

"I understand, Simon," Brooke said simply. "You guys have your hands full here, so I'll take my lea-"

"Wait a second, Brooke," Simon said, grabbing her attention once more. "I do have something that you could help with, but it isn't as major as assisting us in the hospital."

Brooke immediately perked up at this. It didn't matter if it was big or small; Brooke wanted to help in anyway possible as evident by the smile on her face.

"What is it?"

"Well," Simon started with a deep breath. "Before this whole situation transpired, I had a trainer challenge my gym, and after the battle was over, he ended up getting injured, his left arm practically getting destroyed." Brooke seemed interested in this as Simon went on. "Basically, I had his Charizard fly him towards the east, and I do not know if he is okay or not."

"So you want me to find him, right?" Brooke asked rhetorically.

"For the most part," Simon said. "Listen, I feel really bad about sending him out because he was, to put it bluntly, hellbent on protecting the city. I do not want to sound needy or anything here, but I cannot leave the hospital, so it would be great help if you could."

Brooke nodded. _At least I can help in some way,_ she thought to herself with a smile.

"It's fine, Simon," Brooke said, keeping a white smile. "I really want to help, and if this is what I have to do to give back for the attack here, I'll do it." Brooke had a determined tone in her voice, which surprised Simon. "What's his name, though?" Brooke asked, with a curious look.

"The challenger's name is Brett," Simon said. "Brett Rodriguez."

Brooke's entire demeanor changed when Simon said that name. She went from having a calm and confident exterior, to visibly being in shook as she stared at Simon with wide eyes. She couldn't muster up any words but, instead, stood still like a deer frozen in headlights.

"Are you okay, Brooke?"

The question went in one ear and out the other for her. She still stood there, her face turning bright red as one phrase popped in her head.

 _Holy shit…_

 **X.x.X**

 _Pokemon League Facility, Kalos_

 _September 12th, 2032_

"Do you all know why you're here today?"

The question came out in a serious manner, and Ash Ketchum appeared like he was all business today. Dressed in a full black suit, he sat with his hands folded and eyed the three other people sitting around him: Sawyer, Korrina, and Alain, three members of the Kalos Elite Four, all of whom were dressed in appropriate attires.

"Does it have something to do with the Sinnoh situation?" Sawyer asked suddenly, and Ash gave him a nod.

"Yes, Sawyer, it does," Ash said, not beating around the bush.

"So then what does this have to do with Kalos, Ash?" It was Korrina's turn to speak up as she gave Ash a curious look. "With all due respect, is this really Kalos' problem to deal with? After what happened last year, I don't think we should be getting involved in affairs like this."

"Fair enough, Korrina, but you know as well as I do that the higher-ups in Sinnoh aren't the best at dealing with these things," Ash said, his tone remaining serious. "I can't sit here and let that region-pardon my language-fall to shit. As a champion, it is my duty to make sure these things don't happen."

"Ash is right," Alain said finally. "Imagine if Sinnoh ends up falling from whatever is happening. That could inspire other criminals and terrorists to rise up in other regions, and similar things could end up happening."

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Alain," Ash said before moving on. "Last time I checked in with Paul, he said things weren't going to well. He ended up getting into a battle with someone owning a Heatran and barley drove him off with Electivire."

"Did he get any details about this person?" Korrina asked. "If we're going to get involved, we need to know who we're dealing with."

"You're right, Korrina, but Paul said he couldn't see any facial features the man had. He only told me that he was tall and spoke Spanish, but that doesn't narrow down who it could be," Ash said, with a sigh.

"Well, why don't we just go to Sinnoh to help?" Sawyer suggested. "If we're gonna get involved with this, we either have to go all the way or we're not really doing much. Get what I'm saying?"

"I understand completely Sawyer," Ash had started, with a nod, "and that's what I was getting into." Ash looked at his Elite Four sitting around him before he continued. "I was going to suggest that we take a small trip to Sinnoh, especially considering the league doesn't begin for another few months here. What do you all think?"

"I don't know, Ash," Korrina said. "I think it's best if some of us stay behind, just in case something happens over here. Plus, there's a slight chance that Alain's theory might actually be true, so we need to be as safe as possible with this."

"Korrina's right, Ash," Alain said, looking at Ash. "If all of us leave Kalos, then there's more of a chance for something to stir up here. We need to be as cautious as we possibly can be." Alain glanced at everyone present, and they all seemed to be engrossed in what he was saying. "I think that two of us should go to Sinnoh in order to assist, while the remaining two stay here as a precaution."

"Well," Ash began, "if we're going by what Alain is saying, who's going to go with me to Sinnoh?"

Ash glanced around the table, and Korrina was the first person to speak up.

"I think I'll stay back, Ash," Korrina offered. "I'm not really comfortable leaving here with the possibility that something terrible could be looming, to be completely honest."

Ash nodded at what she said before Alain spoke up from his seat at the table.

"I think I'll stay back with Korrina. What she's saying could very well happen, so I don't want to leave her alone to fend off a possible attack."

"That's fair, Alain. Considering what's at stake with the recent attacks on Hearthome and the Adamant Orb being stolen, I don't blame you for wanting to stay back," he said, a serious expression on his tan face. He then turned to Sawyer, who had the same serious expression on his face. "Sawyer, do you want to come with me to Sinnoh?" Ash asked, and Sawyer did not waste time to give him a nod.

"Definitely," Sawyer said. "I think what happened in Sinnoh is truly disgusting, and I would love to assist in anyway I can." He turned to Alain and Korrina, with a confident smile. "Plus, I'm sure that Alain and Korrina are very capable people to defend the region if anything does happen."

Ash gave Sawyer a nod before looking at everyone else.

"So… are we all in agreement with these terms? Sawyer and I will go to Sinnoh to help with whatever they need, while Korrina and Alain will stay back and make sure nothing goes wrong?"

Everyone in the room agreed with Ash in one way or another, and the meeting was closed. Ash dismissed everyone from the room, while he sat at the table by himself. Almost instantly, he let out a sigh, seemingly in his own thoughts as he reached out a bright, golden locket out of his pocket. Ash opened it, and the locket contained a picture of himself with a little girl, who had similar raven hair and tanned skin, and Pikachu.

As he stared at the picture, he said something incomprehensible to himself with a shake of his head. Immediately after, however, his phone rang from his pocket and he looked at who was calling. Ash seemed surprised by the name but still answered nonetheless.

"Hello Lance? What do you need?"

 _ **X.x.X**_

 _Outside of Hearthome City, Sinnoh_

 _September 12th, 2032_

"Why? Why the fuck would Simon take me out!?"

Brett was seated on a tree stump with his Charizard lying down in front, eyes closed tight. He looked to be content, but Brett on the other hand was a completely different story. His left arm was dangling from his shoulder with his elbow contorted in a disturbing way. His arm, though, seemed to be the least of his problems.

"We could've helped, Charizard!" He looked down at him and realized that Charizard wasn't even listening to him. "Are you listening?!" Brett yelled in a rhetorical manner, but when Charizard didn't give a response, it seemed to anger Brett even more. "CHARIZARD!"

Charizard woke up from his sleep and immediately looked at Brett, with an agitated look. Brett rose to his feet slowly and prepared to reprimand him.

"Charizard, we need to get back to Hearthome! For all we know, the fight is still going on, and we have to help!"

Charizard snarled quietly as he rose to a standing position. Once risen, though, he looked at Brett's arm and flinched. Brett didn't pay any attention to this and started to limp towards the smoke that had been rising for hours now. It was still visible even in the darkness that had been cast upon Sinnoh. Charizard reluctantly followed his trainer.

"Charr."

Brett stopped moving and turned to Charizard, who had also stopped walking, with a confused look.

"What?" he asked Charizard. He motioned towards Brett's arm and shook his head. "I don't care about my arm right now, Charizard. We have to see if everything is okay, do you understand?"

Charizard slowly nodded his head, and the duo continued to trek forward, not knowing what they were getting into. As they walked, various forest-dwelling Pokemon ran past them, each with distressed looks on their faces. Brett saw this and immediately clenched his fists.

 _Whatever's happening over there,_ he thought, looking at the rising smoke once more, _we will stop._

Despite his injuries, Brett picked up his pace and Charizard was following suit, with a shake of his head. The two went forward towards Hearthome, and Brett had a look of pure determination and anger on his face, as well as a slight limp in his right leg, but that did not deter him whatsoever.

 _I have to do whatever I can to help,_ he thought to himself once more. _I cannot fail here._

The smoke was getting closer and closer with every step they took, which made Brett walk even faster. Even with the injuries he sustained, his mentality remained strong, and therefore, he did not plan on stopping anytime soon. The only things Brett saw were what was in front of him, and he was not letting them keep him from getting to Hearthome.

However, as they were moving towards Hearthome, both Brett and Charizard heard really loud noises coming from their left. Not even saying a word, Brett turned his attention away from Hearthome and moved towards the loud noises they had heard.

"Sounds like some kind of aircraft," Brett said to Charizard. "I think you should go ahead and scout, just to see what it is." Charizard prepared to fly off, but Brett stopped him. "Come back as soon as you reach the aircraft, okay? I'll wait for you here."

With that, Charizard complied and took off to the skies. In the night sky, the only thing that made Charizard stick out was his bright tail fire, but once he was high enough, it almost looked like a star. Meanwhile, though, Brett walked over to a tree and sat down against it. He made sure to put his arm in a comfortable position, so he didn't make it any worse than it already was.

"My arm is so fucked," he said quietly to himself, sighing with a glance at it.

However, his injured arm didn't help the fact that Brett was currently having second thoughts about the noises he had heard earlier.

 _I hope it isn't anything too dangerous..._

 _ **X.x.X**_

"I can't believe I'm actually doing this, Skarmory. This is the last thing this fucker deserves, and I'm out here saving his ass."

Brooke was soaring in the night skies upon her Skarmory, scanning the area east of Hearthome for any sign of Brett and his Charizard. She was very low to the ground due to her viability being limited, which was to be expected considering how dark it was.

"I just hope we don't fly straight into a tree…"

"Skraaa," Skarmory responded as if he was telling her that everything was fine.

Brooke remained silent, clearly in her own thoughts, as Skarmory soared on. He was going at a fairly fast speed, despite being a Steel-type. Brooke, however, seemed used to it as she simply stared off into space, leaving Skarmory to track down Brett and his Charizard-this wouldn't be too much of an issue, though, since Skarmory were natural hunters in the wild.

 _I really don't want to do this,_ Brooke thought as she snapped back into reality. _This is going to be so awkward and just… ugh._

"At least it feels nice to fly," Brooke said, trying to find some good in the situation she was in. "Nice job as always, Skarmory. I swear you get better every time we do this."

Skarmory let out a pleased noise before flying upwards at a very high angle, causing Brooke to let out a yelp of sorts and breathe very deeply.

"Woah!" she exclaimed before Skarmory straightened out. "I swear to God, I give you a compliment and you pull _that!"_

Skarmory let out a noise that seemed to be mocking her, and Brooke simply just scowled, with an eye roll and shake of her head.

"Fine, if you _really_ want to be like that."

The small incident did not succeed in getting the situation at hand off her mind, though. Immediately after, Brooke went right back in her thoughts, sighing as she did so.

 _If Brett pulls any shenanigans whatsoever, though, I'm leaving him here, and he can get back by himself…_

The two continued circling the area for about five more minutes, and they still had zero success in tracking Brett and his Charizard, which did not seem to disappoint Brooke at all. However, just as she was considering turning back, there was a loud noise, booming across the forest.

"Skarmory, that sounded like a helicopter or something," Brooke noted with a suspicious tone. "Fly closer to the noise."

The order was very simple, but Skarmory compiled without hesitation as they began to move towards the noise. Moments later, though, a creature with a bright tail flame rose from the trees farther down and flew towards the noise.

Brooke saw this, and a surprised look was immediately put on her face.

"That's Brett's Charizard," she said dryly. "Stay out of its sight, but make sure to follow it." Right before Skarmory could follow through on his command, she added, "As much as I don't want to, this is something we have to do."

Skarmory flew higher up and made sure to keep his distance from Charizard, whose figure was becoming more clear as he approached the noise. Brooke watched him closely, and when he suddenly halted, she motioned for Skarmory to get closer. However, just as Skarmory started moving, Charizard turned around and flew back in the direction he came.

Brooke didn't even need to command Skarmory to follow as he instantly started trailing the Charizard from high above. Brooke wasn't sure about how much Skarmory blended in with the night sky, but with the speeds Charizard was going at, she was sure that he wouldn't catch on to them following.

"Brett's not stupid," Brooke suddenly said to her Skarmory. "He most likely sent his Charizard to scout what the noise was instead of barging in."

In the middle of his flight, though, Charizard swooped down into the trees and, about ten seconds later, he shot back up from the trees, a silhouette visible on his back. As soon as Charizard started flying back towards where the noise was, Skarmory and Brooke followed suit.

"And there's our target," Brooke said to herself. "Let's see what's going on now."

 _ **X.x.X**_

"Charizard, we have to stop this," Brett basically growled, and Charizard let out a low roar in agreement.

They looked on at what was going on below them with angered expressions. As Brett concluded, in the middle of a clearing, there was a tiltrotor aircraft, preparing to take off with its cargo door opened wide. It had two lights on the back that had revealed one massive crate with one person standing by it. There was also around ten people, waiting inside of the plane, and Brett scowled at them.

"I think these are the people responsible for the attack on Hearthome," Brett said quietly, his facial expression turning into a disgusted one. Charizard shot small flames out of his nostrils with a growl as Brett started to speak once more. "How about we make our grand entrance then, buddy?"

This time, Charizard let out a booming roar that echoed for seemingly miles before nosediving straight towards the aircraft at lightning speeds. Soon after, the person on guard looked up and yelled as the people inside poured out of the aircraft. However, the person motioned them all to leave, and they sprinted away from the aircraft, effectively evacuating the scene. This did not seem to stop or slow down Brett-or Charizard, for that matter-as he pointed at the aircraft with his right arm. The person, though, had luckily sprinted back inside the plan just in time.

"Blow this shit up! Fire Blast!"

Charizard opened his mouth wide and fire started to build up. Seconds later, he fired out an intense flame that flew towards the aircraft. However just as it was about to reach its target, it was intercepted by a powerful stream of water, instantly dousing the flame. Charizard snarled at this and landed on the ground, and Brett hopped off him carefully.

Before Brett could say anything, they were greeted by a Salamence flying out of the forest. The Salamence did not waste any time as she flew straight towards Charizard. Salamence tackled Charizard to the ground, with a booming roar of his own. After that, though, there was a minor shake in the ground, and right in front of the aircraft, a Garchomp dug its way from out of the ground, letting out a menacing cry.

"I'm surprised," a voice called out. Brett looked towards the voice's direction, and there was a figure walking out of the plane. "I'll be completely real witchu, Brett. I was not expecting our flight to be intercepted."

Brett turned towards the speaker, still keeping Charizard struggling in the corner of his eye. He was a tall, muscular figure with black skin and wore a short-sleeved, black compression shirt and cargo pants. He proceeded to walk next to the Garchomp and watched on as Salamence fired a point-blank Dragon Pulse at Charizard's chest. Brett flinched at that and clenched his fists.

"I was under the impression that you were taken care of, but aight, that's fine, I guess," he said, with a sigh.

"I have no clue what you're talking about, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to fight! Charizard, get u-"

"Garchomp, take care of this lil' shit, so we can get the fuck out."

Brett turned to the Garchomp, who was already sprinting him at full speed, his scythes ready to go massive damage. In Brett's mind, everything was running slower as he backed up. Watching the Garchomp, though, he closed his eyes and braced himself for whatever Garchomp was going to hit him with.

However, the attack never came.

Brett opened his eyes and saw that Garchomp was struck by some attack, and his trainer was looking over to Brett's left. Brett turned and gasped at what he saw. It also happened so that Salamence took his guard off of Charizard, and he instantly reversed her grip, planting Salamence in the dirt.

"You're welcome."

Brooke Winters, her Venusaur trailing behind, was walking towards Brett. She stopped right at his side and glared menacingly at their enemy.

"You know that you're going to pay for what happened at Hearthome, you fucking savage!"

"Come on girl, keep talkin' with that energy," he said, shaking his head. "It's gonna get you fucked up, just like your boy over here."

"First off, he is not 'my boy,'" Brooke said, with venom in her voice. "Secondly, you need to watch what you're saying or else s-"

"Or else what?" he asked, with a smirk. "I wanna see what you and ya little friend can do to me." As the man spoke, his dragons snarled at both Brett and Brooke. "Y'all pale in comparison to me. In all my years on this shitty ass planet, I've killed over hundreds of people, who stood in my way.

"You two are just anotha' couple of kids who think they can play this hero role, but y'all are mistaken," he practically spat out. "Me and my dragons been runnin' this shit for years now… and by the way, the name's Killshot, and it's the last name y'all will _ever_ hear!"

"We'll see about that, you sick fuck!" Brett yelled out. He threw his hand out to his side and commanded, "Charizard, let's go! Dragon Wave!"

"Venusaur, Sludge Bomb on Salamence!"

Charizard let out a terrifying roar and began to flap his wings, which were glowing a purple-orange color, furiously. Seconds later, a wave of purple, draconic energy was shot from them and crashed into the two dragons. However, they did not seemed fazed whatsoever and focused their attention on Charizard. Venusaur, though, waiting for the right timing, shot a mass of black and purple sludge from his mouth which hit Salamence, causing her to turn towards Venusaur with a grunt.

"My turn, now, fuckers! Salamence, Dragon Dance then hit Venusaur wit' a Double Edge! Garchomp, Stone Edge on Charizard!"

Salamence let out a roar and began to course over with red energy. Once the energy subsided, Salamence glowed a silver color and flew into Venusaur at mach speeds, sending him flying backwards. However, Salamence appeared to take recoil damage as energy began to shock him.

At the same time, Garchomp also let out a roar of his own and stones flew up from the ground and circled around him. With a cry and movement of his scythe, the stones shot towards Charizard. They pelted Charizard and Charizard cried out in pain.

"Charizard, retaliate with a Dragon Pulse!"

"Venusaur, help Charizard out and use Toxen Bomb on Garchomp!"

In perfect synch, both Charizard and Venusaur shot their attacks and a purple beam that had taken the shape of a massive dragon and a dark purple sludge hit Garchomp, causing him to drop to the ground. The poison instantly took effect as he cried out loudly.

"Salamence, cover for Garchomp! Burn the ground in front of y'all! Make a shield"

Salamence compiled and let out a stream of flames that had struck the ground. Instantly, they shot up, creating a shield of fire that covered the front of them.

"Charizard fly over the fire and use Air Slash on Salamence!"

Charizard shot to the skies and spotted Salamence, standing in front of Garchomp. With a swing of his wings, though, two light blue arcs of energy stuck Salamence almost sending her into the plane, but Salamence rose to the skies as well.

"Shoot him wit' a Hydro Pump!"

Salamence reared her head back and water had begun to build in it. Throwing her head forward, a stream of high-pressure water was fired at Charizard, striking him in the chest. The attack sent him tumbling to the ground, but he wasn't knocked out as he rose back to his feet.

"Venusaur, fire up a Solar Beam! Shoot it at Salamence!" Brooke yelled, motioning at the Salamence above Charizard.

"Garchomp, get up and hit Venusaur wit' a Fire Fang!"

"GARRRR!"

Garchomp, still poisoned, sprinted through the fire, mouth spewing out flames. He leaped into the air and landed right on top of Venusaur's massive flower. Instantly, he chomped down and fire had begun to spread, but Killshot wasn't done yet.

"Now Flamethrower!"

Garchomp did not release his bite on Venusaur's flower and proceeded to hit him with a massive blast of fire. The impact of the point-blank assault caused an explosion, sending Venusaur back and launching Garchomp in the air.

Simultaneously, though, Salamence did not need a command to continue his barrage of attacks on Charizard as he flew down with a Double Edge and struck him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. After, Salamence landed on the ground and he and Garchomp started closing in more on Brett and Brooke as Killshot cracked his fists with a maniacal laugh.

"I thought y'all would've put up more of a fight, but it's straight," Killshot said, walking forward. "Saves me effort, so I ain't complainin'."

As Killshot walked closer, Brett and Brooke realized that he had pulled out a handgun and pointed it towards them both, with a smirk on his face.

"I live for this shit, yo! Pin 'em to the ground!" Killshot yelled louder and his dragons compiled.

Garchomp rammed himself into Brooke, and she fell to the ground with a cry in pain. Not giving her any space to recover, he put a foot on her stomach. He stared at her and snarled, stepping harder. Meanwhile, Salamence did a sweep with her tail, bringing Brett down on his back. Salamence menacingly walked forward and stepped on both of his shoulders. Brett cried out in pain and Salamence stepped harder, resulting in a crack coming from his left shoulder.

Tears of anger and pain running down his face, Brett looked over at Charizard and saw he was struggling to his feet, flames flaring out of his nostrils much like before.

 _There's ho-_

Killshot walked over to Brooke and bent down, gun pointed to the bridge of her nose. He laughed in her face and started to speak.

"Y'know, I probably would've shot ya friend over there first, but you just _had_ to run ya mouth and look at y-"

"FUCK YOU, PUSSY! SHOOT ME FIRST!"

Killshot shook his head and got up from his bent position. He cracked his neck as he turned around and practically stomped towards Brett.

"The fuck you say to me?!"

Killshot got down on one knee in front of Brett and pistol-whipped him in the side of the head. Seconds after, blood was dripping profusely from his head, and in retaliation, Brett spat in his face. Killshot paused, wiped the spit from his face with a scowl, and punched him in the temple, sending his head crashing into the ground.

Salamence stomped on his left shoulder harder and another crack was heard, causing Brett to yell louder.

Brooke watched on at this and she started to cry to herself, not even caring about the Garchomp pinning her down. She watched on as Killshot held the gun to his opened wound and whispered something to him.

"I did thi-"

 **"CHARRRRR!"**

Just as Killshot was going to shoot, Charizard intercepted, flying extremely low to the ground. The sound of Charizard's roar was enough time for Killshot to take his attention for a second, which he instantly regretted. Charizard practically flew right through Killshot, sending him flying into a tree and causing him to drop his weapon. After the attack, Charizard flew into the air.

Salamence and Garchomp flew after Charizard, but they were interested by two attacks, an Ice Beam and Dragon Pulse, the former striking Garchomp and the later hitting Salamence. The force of the attacks sent them crashing into the ground. After this, Brooke rushed right for Brett and gave him a hug.

"Thank you…"

However, Brett wasn't responding as he lay there. Blood was still dripping from his head and a lot of it managed to get on to Brooke. Moreover, the condition of his left shoulder was terrible. Brooke buried her face into her hands and began to cry louder. At the same time, Charizard landed and immediately rushed over to Brett. Similarly, Venusaur had also walked over to Brooke, nuzzling her as she cried.

"Brooke Winters," a voice suddenly called out from the aircraft.

Brooke turned to the voice and saw two men walking towards her, Brett, Venusaur, and Charizard. One man was fairly tall and had long dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He was wearing dark blue jeans, brown boots, and a black t-shirt with a golden necklace, and he had a massive Blastoise standing next to him. The other man was around a head shorter than the other and wore a silver watch, a black vest with a white undershirt, and black jeans with black boots. He had blue eyes and his short, styled hair was dyed a bright white color. Much like the other man, he had a Pokemon next to him, but his was a Sceptile.

"We need you and your friend to come with us," he finished off. "This is very, _very_ important."

Brooke was taken aback for a second by what he had said.

"What can be more important than _this?"_ she asked, motioning towards the unconscious figure of Brett. "His left arm is beyond injured right now, and I need to get him to a ho-"

"I'm sorry, Brooke," the other man, with the Sceptile, spoke, "but we're not letting you leave here. It's imperative that you guys come with us."

Charizard looked at the two men and snarled as he stood in front of Brett and Brooke. In response, Blastoise and Sceptile stepped forward and both took defensive stances. Venusaur walked forward next to Charizard, gritting his teeth. Before anything could happen, though, the two men whispered something to their Pokemon, calling then off.

"Who are you guys, anyway?" Brooke asked, wiping the tears from her cheeks. Before they responded, she glanced at Brett and saw that his head wound stopped bleeding, but he was breathing slow.

"My name is John Torres," the man owning the Blastoise said before motioning to his friend, "and this is Holden White."

"And what do you all want with us?" Brooke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Something to do with this," Holden replied, pulling out a blue and pink orb from his pocket. Even in the night, the orb shined bright, reflecting almost everything. "The Lustrous Orb," Holden finished off.

"What is it, though, and how does it pertain to Brett and I?"

This time, John responded and said, "The Lustrous Orb is related to the legendary Pokemon Palkia. Some say it's used to summon Palkia, while others say it's a piece of it." He glanced at the orb and sighed. "All we know is that it was in Killshot's possession, and if you two did not step in, things could be very bad right now."

"I'm not buying this," Brooke said, shaking her head. "All I know is that my fr… acquaintance is badly injured right now, and I need to get him hel-"

"Brooke, I'm sorry, but we cannot allow that," Holden said. "We do have the required tech that can fix up Brett, though."

John nodded at what Holden said, and Brooke sighed. She looked down at Brett and shook her head.

"Just… take us then," Brooke said. She turned to her Venusaur and pulled out his Poke Ball. "Good job earlier, buddy, but you're gonna have to get back in your ball." She recalled her Venusaur and turned back to Holden and John. "So what about the freak over there?" Brooke asked, motioning towards Killshot, who was knocked out cold.

"Authorities will get him. They're gonna be here any minute now, so we have to get moving," John said quickly before pulling a device out of his pocket. It looked like a phone of sorts and as he was typing into it, John said, "This is going to be _very_ weird for you, Brooke, but please bear with us."

Brooke nodded before looking at Charizard, who had been towering over Brett with a saddened expression.

"Hey," Brooke called out to Charizard as John was messing with the device, "I know your trainer and I haven't been on the greatest of terms for a while, but he's going to be okay… I promise."

Charizard didn't respond to what Brooke said, but she saw him nod his head slightly and that was enough for her. Just as she turned back to Holden and John, a blue pulse came from the phone-like device and suddenly her vision had gone black…

 _What the hell?_

* * *

 **And there it is! That's a wrap! Honestly, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter as I mentioned at the start. I don't really mind that this chapter was more centered around Brett and Brooke because they're really fun to write when together. To recap, though, Brett and Brooke ran into each other and had a near-death experience before John Torres and Holden White helped them out! At the same time, we learned that Ash and Sawyer were coming to Sinnoh! That's really everything majot to happen, so let's end this off with a few questions!**

 **1: Why did Lance call Ash at the end? What does he want?**

 **2: Who do you all think that was in the photo with Ash? Open to any guesses.  
**

 **3: Thoughts on Killshot? I wanted to make him stand out a lot, and I hope I succeeded.  
**

 **4: Lastly, what are some predictions for the next coming chapters? I'm curious to what you all think!**


End file.
